freedom cocks bak

===

Amash ~ trump, attacked, bails

SEE TRUMP COUP

see hard right

promote primary 6/18 on mueller, evil pending

see Tea Party meadows

BOB GOOD CHAIR GAETZ 8 FLANK

see waste, fraud & abuse

11 22 bak cocks

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an 8 25

On Thursday, August 21, conservative Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) made a major announcement: He is running for Texas attorney general, a position presently held by far-right Ken Paxton — who is challenging incumbent Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in the state's 2026 GOP U.S. Senate primary.

Roy is a prominent player in the House Freedom Caucus and is known for being a relentless budget hawk. In an article published on August 22, The Hill's Emily Brooks stresses that Bolton's announcement is a major shakeup for the Freedom Caucus and the U.S. House of Representatives' small GOP majority.

"Several other notable Freedom Caucus members are seeking higher office, too: Reps. Andy Biggs (Ariz.), Byron Donalds (Fla.), and Ralph Norman (S.C.) are running for governor; Rep. Barry Moore (Ala.) launched a Senate bid last week; and Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.) is interested in being appointed to the Senate if Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) wins the governorship," Brooks explains. "Some members hope that the departures of those members who have often cause headaches will lead to greater GOP harmony and less chaos in Congress."

At times, Roy has butted heads with President Donald Trump over budgetary matters.

IFrame Content

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisconsin) told The Hill, "The outcome of Chip leaving is a more productive Congress. He's been a contrarian, and he's been an obstructionist."

But some GOP lawmakers, according to Brooks, view Roy "as an important bridge between the Freedom Caucus and the rest of the House GOP and someone who negotiates in good faith."

Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-Oklahoma) told The Hill, "My hope is that we'll have members from the Freedom Caucus step up to fill that void, because there's a need for us to continue to work together."

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The legislation does name several individual officers, including Goodman, for their valor, saying “Capitol Police Officers Brian Sicknick and Howard Liebengood, Metropolitan Police Department Officer Jeffrey Smith, and those who sustained injuries, and the courage of Capitol Police Officer Eugene Goodman, exemplify the patriotism and the commitment of Capitol Police officers, and those of other law enforcement agencies, to risk their lives in service of our country.”

The 21 Republicans who voted against the bill are:

Lauren Boebert of Colorado
John Rose of Tennessee
Andy Harris of Maryland
Thomas Massie of Kentucky
Bob Good of Virginia
Louie Gohmert of Texas
Barry Moore of Alabama
Ralph Norman of South Carolina
Matt Rosendale of Montana
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia
Chip Roy of Texas
Paul Gosar of Arizona
Andy Biggs of Arizona
Warren Davidson of Ohio
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Matt Gaetz of Florida
Greg Steube of Florida
Andrew Clyde of Georgia
Jody Hice of Georgia
Mary Miller of Illinois
Michael Cloud of Texas

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an 8 24

Bob Good (R-VA) — the far-right House Freedom Caucus chair — lost his reelection bid Thursday after a recount confirmed Virginia state Sen. John McGuire's win, according to Politico.

The Associated Press (AP) reports, "Election officials previously certified a narrow McGuire win in the June 18 primary, by 374 votes out of nearly 63,000 cast. But with the margin of victory at just six-tenths of a percentage point, Good was entitled to a recount."

Veteran Capitol Hill journalist Jamie Dupree on June 19 reported that the top GOP House leaderwas "confident about his chances to maintain his seat, despite being down in a razor-thin vote count in the Republican primary for Virginia's 5th Congressional district."

Good — who supports Donald Trump in his bid for reelection — lost the former president's support when he originally endorsed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' 2024 presidential campaign.

Even traveling to Manhattan to defend the MAGA hopeful in his hush money criminal case did not win back Trump's loyalty, as the former president has made this support for McGuire clear.

Per AP, Good "thanked those who voted for him and supported his reelection campaign" in a Facebook post Thursday night.

"While I am disappointed in the ultimate outcome, it has been my distinct honor to serve as the congressional representative for Virginia’s 5th District over the past 3.5 years," the Virginia lawmaker wrote.

*Politico's report is available at this link. The Associated Press' report is here.

===

context, they tossed her

'Sophomoric ranting': Conservative calls out MTG’s 'preposterous' crusade against non-MAGA Republicans - Alternet.org

'Disinformation': Greene pushes pro-Putin propaganda in 'war on Christianity' rant - Alternet.org

after two top Republican House committee chairmen said Russian propaganda has made its way into Congress and “infected” some in the GOP base, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) spread demonstrably false pro-Russia talking points about a “war on Christianity” while defending and promoting President Vladimir Putin.}:

“It is absolutely true we see, directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor,” House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner told CNN on Sunday, as NBC News reported. Republican House Foreign Affairs Committee chair Michael McCaul, NBC added, “told Puck News that he thinks ‘Russian propaganda has made its way into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

On Monday, Congresswoman Greene, who strongly opposes any U.S. funds for military aid to Ukraine and has threatened to oust Mike Johnson as Speaker if he moves to assist Ukraine, once again praised Putin.

“Let’s talk about what this really is,” Greene said to far-right MAGA messenger Steve Bannon, the former Trump campaign CEO and White House advisor.

“This is a war on Christianity. The Ukrainian government is attacking Christians, the Ukrainian government is executing priests. Russia is not doing that,” Greene falsely declared.

“They’re not attacking Christianity. As a matter of fact, they seem to be protecting it. So that’s something else that’s clear and obvious to many people that are looking closely at what’s going on.”

Last month The Tablet, a nearly 200-year old UK-based Catholic weekly reported, “The International Religious Freedom or Belief Alliance said that 30 Ukrainian priests had been killed by Russian forces.” It also detailed accounts of several Ukrainian priests who allegedly had been tortured, including one who allegedly was “Tortured to death by Russian soldiers.” The full statement from the IRFBA was published by the U.S. Dept. of State.

“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is exterminating religious freedom, signaling a return by Moscow to Soviet-era levels of persecution of faiths, the head of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church has said,” Newsweek reported, also last month. “The Kyiv-based Institute for Religious Freedom (IRF) said in February 2023 that, in the first 12 months of the war, the Russian military had destroyed, damaged, or looted at least 494 religious buildings, theological institutions, and sacred sites, with the figure estimated to be higher today.”

Voice of America has also documented alleged killings of Ukrainian clergy by Russian forces.

Hours before Greene’s remarks to Bannon, U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY), pointing to a Washington Post piece on the two GOP chairs warning about Republicans promoting Russia propaganda, said: “Even leading Republicans say Marjorie Taylor Greene is parroting Putin and Russia’s disinformation. She must be exposed and her irresponsible behavior must be stopped.”

He also said Monday, “we need to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from repeating Putin and Russia’s talk[ing] points!!”

Last year Newsweek reported Greene “has become a Russian state media darling by mirroring some of the Kremlin’s views on the war in Ukraine,” and noted she “has featured prominently on Russian state TV and in state media publications for her remarks on the war and has been accused of parroting Kremlin propaganda.”

Watch Greene’s remarks below or at this link.rep ~ trump twt]

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an 4 24

although the GOP is now often considered and referred to as the party of Donald Trump, the far-right corner of US Congress has become what Trump world officials consider a threat to a second term for the former president, according to The Daily Beast.

Many times "the first line of defense" during Trump's presidency, the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), once led by former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows — who was charged alongside Trump in the Georgia election interference case — the group is now led by a Republican congressman many MAGA insiders do not consider an ally.

US Rep. Bob Good (R-VA) originally drew Trump's ire in the early stages of 2024 election campaigning, when he backed Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for president over the MAGA hopeful.

Per the Beast, a source "close to Trump said the former president realizes Good begged him for an endorsement, 'and then turned around and endorsed DeSantis.'"

Good backed Trump immediately after DeSantis dropped out of the race, but the endorsement has yet to change the way those in Trumpworld views the Virginia lawmaker. In fact, according to the report, "the former president’s orbit was 'pissed' when the Freedom Caucus made Good its next chairman."

The Beast notes Trump senior adviser Chris LaCivita told a local Virginia news outlet recently, "Bob Good won’t be electable when we get done with him."

Aside from the caucus chair's tarnished relationship with the ex-president's camp, the report also notes "a Trumpworld source told The Daily Beast that it’s not just Good who has set off alarm bells for Trump and his allies; other figures, like Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX)—another DeSantis endorser who has taken a prominent role in the Freedom Caucus—are a sign that the HFC won’t have the same relationship it once had with Trump should he win the White House."

The Beast reports, "Yes, the HFC has always had disagreements with Trump. But during his presidency, defending Trump became a primary function of the group. It’s why one of the group’s founders, Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI), mutually agreed to leave the group when he decided to support Trump’s impeachment."

US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) — who was kicked out of the caucus in 2023, deemed the group under Good's direction, “one of the most dangerous things to Trump’s next administration."

Good has also faced recent criticism from other GOP House members — some of whom are actively campaigning against the caucus chair for his opponent, John McGuire. Perhaps, unfortunately for the caucus chair, McGuire is an unwavering Trump supporter.

"The HFC has an identity crisis," a Trump source emphasized to the Beast. "Some want to be Trumpy, some want to oppose the speaker, some want to make deals. There’s no identity."

*The Daily Beast's full report is available here (subscription required).

===

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3 24 an

there’s a maGA FREEDOM CAUCUS NOW?

House Speaker Mike Johnson has been working hard to keep his job to escape the same fate as his predecessor, US Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), amid months of attempting to negotiate with Democrats on government spending despite constant criticism from far-right colleagues.

In addition to juggling threats of his ouster from certain members, the speaker is also challenged with the fact some members are actively campaigning against each other. According to CNN, Johnson told his GOP colleagues to "cool it" during the lawmakers' retreat earlier this month.

Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA) on Thursday took to X (formerly Twitter) to blast a few of "his House Republican colleagues who backed his primary challenger," according to Politico.

Per the news outlet, "The battle goes against Johnson’s entreaties for Republicans to refrain from campaigning against each other in primaries, as the party tries to keep its control of the lower chamber."

Good wrote, "The RINOs who hosted a DC fundraiser for my opponent last night are going to vote for the massive uniparty spending bill on the House floor without having time to read it. Shows how he would vote if he were in Congress with them."

The Virginia lawmaker also tagged the GOP members, including, US Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), US Rep. Jen Kiggans (R-VA), US Rep. Morgan Luttrell (R-TX), US Rep. Mike Rogers (R-AL), US Rep. Ryan Zinke (R-MT), and US Rep. Derrick Van Arden (R-WI).

Similarly, US Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) last week went against GOP leaders' "pleas" by campaigning against his fellow Republican House member, Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) for a far-right "pro-gun social media influencer."

Last month, Politico reported as Johnson faces several obstacles that "include twin government funding deadlines, a twice-punted surveillance fight and growing concerns that Republicans are poised to lose House control in November," several GOP members, like Good, threaten "consequences" for the Louisiana lawmaker if he makes the wrong move.

As GOP House members, like McCarthy, US Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) — most recently, Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), and others, announce their retirement, threatening an already razor-thin Republican majority, Good couldn't care less.

The Freedom Caucus chair told CNN last month, "Why don't you survey the country and see if there is any brain to drain in Congress. Congress has a 20 percent approval rating. Most of what we do to the country is bad. I think the retirements are a wonderful thing.… I have no concerns, zero concerns. We probably need a few more retirements."

In January, Good was one of the far-right members among about a dozen others who told reporters, according to the New York Times, that despite a potential government shutdown, the bipartisan spending deal Johnson and US Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reached was "unacceptable."

TRUMP COUP FAKE ELECTORS8 IN FREEDOM CAUCUS? (MTG?)

perry head of freedom caucus, used to headed by Mulvaney OMB klukowski

perry denied, then proved? 3 more denied?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/06/23/5-takeaways-jan-6-hearing-trumps-doj-plot/

wapo

June 23, 2022

PAC’s text on Louisiana Election Day causes ‘number of problems’ for the Freedom Caucus - Alternet.org

no lnx

House Freedom Caucus threatens 'reckless' government shutdown unless far-right demands are met

Jim Jordan's 'political stunt dressed up as an investigation' is 'loaded with blanks': legal experts

Jessica CorbettandCommon Dreams August 22, 2023

With Congress on August recess, the far-right House Freedom Caucus on Monday issued expected but unlikely-to-be-met demands for a stopgap funding bill that wouldavert an October government shutdown.

Members of the Senate and House of Representatives are set to return to Capitol Hill on the first and second Tuesday of September, respectively—giving them little time to pass full-year appropriations legislation before funding runs out at the end of next month.

Considering the time crunch, both Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have recently signaled support for a continuing resolution (CR) that would give lawmakers a few more months to pass a larger package.

So far, McCarthy's fractured conference has only passed one of 12 appropriations bills for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Among the GOP's "five families" is the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), which does not publicly list its members but is made up of a few dozen legislators, including Chair Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Vice Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).

In terms of the appropriations legislation for the next fiscal year, the HFC said in a statement Monday that "we remain committed to restoring the true FY 2022 topline spending level of $1.471 trillion without the use of gimmicks or reallocated rescissions to return the bureaucracy to its pre-Covid size while allowing for adequate defense funding."

"In the eventuality that Congress must consider a short-term extension of government funding through a continuing resolution, we refuse to support any such measure that continues Democrats' bloated Covid-era spending and simultaneously fails to force the Biden administration to follow the law and fulfill its most basic responsibilities," the caucus continued. "Any support for a 'clean' continuing resolution would be an affirmation of the current FY 2023 spending level grossly increased by the lame-duck December 2022 omnibus spending bill that we all vehemently opposed just seven months ago."

The HFC declared that its members will refuse to support any CR that does not include the House-passed Secure the Border Act, "address the unprecedented weaponization" of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and "end the Left's cancerous woke policies in the Pentagon undermining our military's core warfighting mission."

The Pentagon language likely relates to U.S. military policies on abortion and gender-affirming care as well as diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility while the DOJ comment is widely seen as a reference to investigations of former President Donald Trump, who has been indicted in four cases this year—including in two probes led by Special Counsel Jack Smith, who was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland after the Republican announced his 2024 presidential campaign.

"We will oppose any attempt by Washington to revert to its old playbook of using a series of short-term funding extensions designed to push Congress up against a December deadline to force the passage of yet another monstrous, budget-busting, pork-filled, lobbyist handout omnibus spending bill at year's end and we will use every procedural tool necessary to prevent that outcome," the HFC added Monday. "Lastly, we will oppose any blank check for Ukraine in any supplemental appropriations bill."

Democrats in Congress quickly warned that the faction of Republicans was up to no good, with Schumer saying in a statement Monday that "if the House decides to go in a partisan direction it will lead to a Republican-caused shutdown."

Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.) said that "extreme House Republicans are now threatening to send us into a reckless government shutdown if they don't get their way. A shutdown would be a disaster for Virginians—from missed paychecks to lapses in essential government services that families rely on."

Referencing Trump's "Make America Great Again" slogan, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media that "House Republicans are determined to shut down the government and crash our economy. We will fight these MAGA extremists every step of the way. For. The. People."

The New Republic's Tori Otten also suggested that "tanking the economy" could be the goal, noting that the HFC made similar demands earlier this year before McCarthy struck a debt ceiling deal with Democratic President Joe Biden, who is seeking reelection:

The government shutdown in 2018 cost the United States $11 billion, including $3 billion in economic activity that will never be recovered, the Congressional Budget Office said at the start of the following year.With a presidential election on the horizon, the Freedom Caucus could be looking for ways to undermine Biden any way it can. Destroying the economy he's helping to recover would do just that.

The Washington Post reported Monday that "White House spokesperson Olivia Dalton told reporters that she had no updates on whether Biden plans to sign a continuing resolution."

an 8 23

many of the most far-right House Republicans truly believe the propaganda and extremism that they promote – in stark contrast to others for whom it's just an act to get votes, a former RNC researcher said Thursday.

In an interview on the Aaron Rupar Show, Justin Higgans argued the true far-right believers — who have lately been causing fractures and divisions among GOP power caucuses — often end up tanking their own careers with their own inability to compromise.

"A lot of Tea Party members, a lot ofHouse Freedom Caucus members — that includes Ron DeSantis, he was one of those folks — don't believe what they're saying," Higgans told Rupar.

"So they will use these issues and, specifically, the two examples that come to mind are Mick Mulvaney and Mark Meadows. They use these talking points, they use the grassroots energy to advance themselves. Jim Jordan being a third. They advance themselves up the ranks, up the cable news shows, sometimes they become Chief of Staff of the White House."

On the other hand, Higgans said, "There are some people that actually believe the crazy s--t that they say. And that is Tim Huelskamp, that is Paul Gosar. So they do have more integrity. However, they are very scary."

As an example, Higgans pointed to Huelskamp, who was ousted in 2016 from his Kansas district by doctor and businessman Roger Marshall, who later went on to be elected to the Senate.

"Huelskamp actually believed in cutting government spending, so he voted against the interests in his district, which is agriculture," said Higgans. "So time and time again, he voted against providing subsidies to agriculture companies, despite that being the overwhelming industry in his district.

"And as a result, nobody cared about any of the things that he said about immigration or the misogyny or the LGBTQ+ hatred. They only cared when the rubber met the road, it was only when he went against their financial interests, and a large enough coalition was able to come together and remove him for Roger Marshall. Guess what? Roger Marshall does not go against those interests. So it's all a kind of Kabuki theater, almost."

an 7 23 grabFF

'Crazy': Inside the fight that got Marjorie Taylor Greene booted from the Freedom Caucus

Matt Laslo

and Raw Story

July 08, 2023

WASHINGTON – Two years ago, Democrats booted Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from her committees over racism, conspiracies and threats.

Greene is back in the committee game. But some two weeks ago, the far-right Freedom Caucus in part ousted her for cursing: specifically, for calling Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) “a little b----” on the House floor.

Politicians talk dirty. But not that dirty, at least not within the ranks of the Freedom Caucus — a gleefully brazen band of far-right rabble-rousers with a history of fighting GOP leadership.

In exclusive interviews with Raw Story, one current and two former members of the Freedom Caucus — who requested anonymity to speak candidly about a colleague — described the inner-workings of the group and why its members could no longer tolerate Greene’s antics.

“That’s a big damn deal in there. You don’t have to agree with everybody. What you do have to f------ do is not violate anyone's confidence,” one former Freedom Caucus member told Raw Story. “I can never remember anyone ever yelling at anyone in a Freedom Caucus meeting. Ever.”

The Freedom Caucus is notorious for its methodical secrecy.For one, the group keeps its full membership rolls hidden from the public. And members prize having candid meetings with one another even when there’s fierce intellectual disagreements within the group.

“The sort of code of the members: You disagree with somebody, you still don't burn them down because it's important for you to be able to have an honest discourse,” the former Freedom Caucus member said.

While the former member doesn’t know Marjorie Taylor Greene personally, the former member questioned whether Greene knows herself.

“What’s important to MTG? I don't know the answer to that question — that's rhetorical,” the former Freedom Caucus member asked. “It may have backfired, but it may not have. She may have gotten exactly what she wanted. Who knows?”

Tactics are one thing. Just ask now-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA). At the start of the year, over 15 Groundhog Day-esque ballots, a mere handful of Freedom Caucus members — along with some of their far-right allies — kept McCarthy in political purgatory until he doled out concession after concession.

Greene — whose aides didn’t make her available for an interview — wasn’t a part of the speaker standoff. She was fully in Camp McCarthy, which also left bitter feelings among some corners of the Freedom Caucus. McCarthy has since rewarded Greene.

Tact is another value Freedom Caucus members prize, and critics say Greene doesn’t have much.

“You can’t say things like that,” the Republican lawmaker told Raw Story. “I really don’t understand these people who will say crazy things just to get in the papers, and — maybe that’s her personality — I would never say anything like that.”

The Freedom Caucus lawmaker fears populist politics is overtaking prudent policy making.

“There are some of the newer members who would prefer to be hardlined, and it does worry me for the future of the Freedom Caucus — because if you push out the intellectual debate aspect, I’ll think you’ll chase off a lot of people,” he said.

While the Freedom Caucus is only eight years old, it’s already strayed from its fiscal conservative roots, according to another former member who has since left the U.S. House but remains in elected office elsewhere.

“When I joined the Freedom Caucus, I was hoping that I’d finally found a place where fiscal conservatives could go— and I think that’s why a lot of other people went there,” the former Freedom Caucus member said. “And then it turned out that, maybe, that wasn’t the major driver even for the Freedom Caucus.”

In the past, the Freedom Caucus was more selective on the front end.

“I don’t think we ever kicked anyone off when I was there,” the former member told Raw Story. “But there were people that wanted to join that we decided not to invite to join and it tended to be people who struggled so hard to articulate their positions in a pleasant way without insulting groups of people that we didn’t want to be identified with them.”

bb 7 23

the House Freedom Caucus is a group of the 46 most authoritarian, freedom-hating, racist, misogynist, anti-environmentalist, un-American, conspiracy-spreading, anti-science, and fascist members of the U.S. Representatives. Members include Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Anna Paulina Luna, Jim Jordan, and Andrew Clyde.

Marjorie Taylor Greene was once a proud member of the Freedom Caucus, but she now has the honor of being the first member to be tossed from the basket of deplorables for calling fellow member Lauren Boebert a "bitch" and playing pattycake with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.'

Rep. Andy Harris, a member of the Freedom Caucus, confirmed that the group voted to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. "A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she's done," he said, according to Politico:

"I think the way she referred to a fellow member was probably not the way we expect our members to refer to other fellow, especially female, members," Harris said on Thursday, appearing to refer to Greene reportedly calling Boebert a "little bitch."

Asked if Greene breaking from the group on the debt bill or her support for McCarthy were factors, Harris said, "I think all of that mattered."

"I think the straw that broke the camel's back was publicly saying things about another member in terms that no one should," he said.

an 6 23

no lnx

Some in House Freedom Caucus want to boot Marjorie Taylor Greene after adding new members: report

Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most famous members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, could be kicked out if some members get their way, according to a new Politico report.

Lawmakers in the House Freedom Caucus told Politico anonymously that some members have suggested the removal of others to the chair, Representative Scott Perry (R-PA).

Though the sources didn’t name who could be on the chopping block, they “are signaling” to the outlet that Marjorie Taylor Greene is likely one member who would be given the boot. Perry said he denied the requests to kick out members, but Greene has become less popular among her caucusmates recently.

READ MORE: House Freedom Caucus Republican: Trump Is Spinning Out of Control

This week, she referred to House Freedom Caucus Communications Chair Lauren Boebert (R-CO) as a “little bitch” on the House floor. The latest argument between Greene and Boebert is over Boebert’s attempt to force the House to vote on her resolution to impeach President Joe Biden over immigration issues. The issue isn’t that Boebert tried to impeach Biden, but rather that Greene says Boebert stole her idea.

“I had already introduced articles of impeachment on Joe Biden for the border, asked her to co-sponsor mine — she didn’t,” Greene said Wednesday. “She basically copied my articles and then introduced them and then changed them to a privileged resolution.”

Boebert said she hadn’t read Greene’s resolution, NBC News reported. Specifically in response to Greene’s claims of copying off her, she said “I’m not in middle school.”

Another issue the House Freedom Caucus has with Greene is her newfound coziness with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy. Though in her first term, she regularly butted heads with the then-minority leader, she allied with McCarthy in the fight for House Speaker following the last election when the Republicans gained a slim majority.

“If you’re going to be in a fight, you want Marjorie in your foxhole,” Mr. McCarthy told the New York Times. “When she picks a fight, she’s going to fight until the fight’s over. She reminds me of my friends from high school, that we’re going to stick together all the way through.”

Politico’s report comes 10 days after it was announced that two new members, Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) and Eric Burlison (R-MO) were joining the House Freedom Caucus. There are now 42 members of the House Freedom Caucus, and an additional four who have been endorsed by the House Freedom Fund, the campaigning arm of the caucus.

https://www.newsweek.com/who-house-freedom-caucus-full-list-members-after-midterms-results-1758547

no lnx

the House Freedom Caucus appears poised to play a major role in the next Congress after Republicans performed less well than was widely expected in Tuesday's midterm elections.

The group of right-wing Republican members of the House of Representatives could wield significant influence if the GOP majority is slim, though control of the House has not yet been determined.

The exact composition of the House Freedom Caucus in the next Congress is also not yet clear as some races have yet to be decided. Representative Lauren Boebert, a prominent member, is locked in a tight race in Colorado's 3rd district against Democrat Adam Frisch.

Representative Yvette Herrell has conceded her race to her Democratic opponent, while Representative David Schweikert is also in a tough race, and it remains unclear if he will be re-elected.

Representative Ted Budd has successfully been elected to the U.S. Senate in North Carolina and will therefore not be in the House from January.

Representatives Mo Brooks, Jody Hice and Louie Gohmert are leaving the House at the end of the current Congress. Representative Madison Cawthorn was defeated in his primary and will not serve in the next Congress.

The House Freedom Fund—the campaign arm of the Freedom Caucus—endorsed several candidates who have now been elected and may be expected to join the group. Though a red wave did not materialize, the House Freedom Caucus is likely to play a major role in the House where new members could rise to prominence.

Not all the races with candidates backed by the House Freedom Fund have been decided. This list will be updated when more results become available.

Here is a list of current and potential members of Congress of the House Freedom Caucus.

A Republican victory in the House ties Biden's hands on China, Russia, Iran

Video of Joe Biden laughing about Trump's future goes viral

Donald Trump was just murdered by his favorite newspaper

Elected Members in the 117th Congress

Rep. Scott Perry (PA)

Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO)

Rep. Chip Roy (TX)

Rep. Jim Jordan (OH)

Rep. Warren Davidson (OH)

Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ)

Rep. Dan Bishop (NC)

Rep. Mo Brooks (AL)

Rep. Ken Buck (CO)

Rep. Ted Budd (NC)

Rep. Madison Cawthorn (NC)

Rep. Ben Cline (VA)

Rep. Michael Cloud (TX)

Rep. Andrew Clyde (GA)

Rep. Scott DesJarlais (TN)

Rep. Byron Donalds (FL)

Rep. Jeff Duncan (SC)

Rep. Russ Fulcher (ID)

Rep. Louie Gohmert (TX)

Rep. Bob Good (VA)

Rep. Paul Gosar (AZ)

Rep. Mark Green (TN)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)

Rep. Morgan Griffith (VA)

Rep. Andy Harris (MD)

Rep. Diana Harshbarger (TN)

Rep. Yvette Herrell (NM)

Rep. Jody Hice (GA)

Rep. Clay Higgins (LA)

Rep. Debbie Lesko (AZ)

Rep. Mary Miller (IL)

Rep. Alex Mooney (WV)

Rep. Barry Moore (AL)

Rep. Ralph Norman (SC)

Rep. Gary Palmer (AL)

Rep. Bill Posey (FL)

Rep. Matt Rosendale (MT)

Rep. David Schweikert (AZ)

Rep. Greg Steube (FL)

Rep. Tom Tiffany (WI)

Rep. Randy Weber (TX)

New Members Endorsed By House Freedom Fund

Josh Brecheen (OK)

Eli Crane (AZ)

Anna Paulina Luna (FL)

Max Miller (OH)

Newsweek has asked the House Freedom Fund for comment.

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killed gas stove bill?!

an 6 23

no lnx

'Fiery' closed-door meeting highlights bitter infighting among House Republicans

Alex Henderson June 13, 2023

In early June, a group of 11 far-right House Republicans voiced their displeasure with Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and his recent debt ceiling agreement with President Joe Biden by blocking GOP-sponsored bills. Conservative critics of this blockade argued that the 11 Republicans were cutting their noses to spite their faces.

The following week, tensions among House Republicans were evident during a "fiery" closed-door meeting on Tuesday, June 13, according to Axios' Juliegrace Brufke.

Brufke reports, "Multiple GOP sources in the room told Axios that moderates took to the mics to slam the 11 members who froze the floor, arguing that a small group does not speak for the entirety of the conference and blasted their calls for a renegotiated speaker's agreement."

READ MORE: 'Incredible embarrassment': MAGA Republicans tank pro-gas stoves bills to punish McCarthy over debt ceiling

According to Brufke, Rep. Mike Lawler (R-New York) "slammed the blockade" during the meeting, while Rep. Matt Gaetz (D-Florida) defended it.

"Freshman Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wis.) was 'screaming at the mics' about the floor shutdown, 'dropping multiple F bombs' and telling the room 'he's introducing bills to save lives and it's not s**t that gets on Fox News,' according to two sources in the room," Brufke reports. "Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) rebutted Van Orden's criticisms, arguing that he is 'looking to shrink government.'"

Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are still furious over the Biden/McCarthy debt ceiling agreement.

Republicans who joined McCarthy in voting to raise the United States' debt ceiling argued that it was necessary in order to prevent the U.S. from defaulting on its debt obligations. But Freedom Caucus members and ultra-MAGA Republicans who voted against the bill argued that the spending cuts Biden and McCarthy agreed on did not go far enough.

READ MORE: 'Not going to stand for it': Kevin McCarthy backs Trump vowing to target attorney general

Meanwhile, progressive Democrats who voted against the bill, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Washington), believed that the cuts were extreme.

"The (House Republican) Conference still has a lot of legislation it wants to pass, ranging from spending bills to FAA reauthorization," Brufke reports. "Fractures within the Conference could make those tasks more difficult and place Speaker Kevin McCarthy's leadership position on tenuous ground."

READ MORE: How Manchin and Sinema quietly influenced debt ceiling negotiations: report

Axios' full report is available at this link.

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an 6 23

no lnx

Freedom Caucus failed to cause an economic catastrophe by forcing the nation into default. They couldn’t get organized enough to challenge Kevin McCarthy’s speakership, partly because no one else wants the job. So they’ve resorted to the one thing they can achieve: They shut down the House of Representatives. The procedural stunt they pulled on Tuesday kicked off a rebellion that has prevented the House from doing anything of substance for the remainder of the week. A defeated McCarthy gave in Wednesday evening, sent everyone home for the weekend, and worsened his leadership crisis by blaming the whole mess on his number two, Majority Leader Steve Scalise. He’s made a very big mess for himself.

On Tuesday, 11 of the rebels pulled their surprise, voting with Democrats to defeat the procedural vote that set the rules for a couple of bills that were supposed to come to the floor. This is always a party-line vote. The minority always unanimously votes against it, the majority always unanimously votes for it, by rote. This was the first time in 21 years that a rule vote was defeated. Since then, the group has dug in and refused to agree to allow any bill to move to the floor until they get concessions from McCarthy.

McCarthy’s self-proclaimed great “victory” on the debt ceiling is now history. His effort Wednesday to try to gloss this over as a spat that would make his next wins even bigger and better has been exposed as so much hot air. He made everything worse by turning on his own leadership team. “The majority leader runs the floor,” McCarthy told reporters, insinuating that Scalise had screwed up.

It’s Scalise’s fault, he insists, pointing to one of the beefs the maniacs brought up as a cause for their rebellion. Rep. Andrew Clyde, Georgia, has a controversial gun bill that Scalise has agreed to bring to the floor. According to Scalise, he’s been whipping it but hasn’t found enough votes. According to Clyde, Scalise threatened to never allow a vote on the bill if Clyde didn’t support the team on the debt ceiling.

The real problem, according to Scalise, is the promises McCarthy made to the extremists to get to be speaker. The maniacs say McCarthy broke those promises with the debt ceiling bill. The reality—and Scalise points this out, too—is that no one but McCarthy and that crew know what those promises were. Not having it in writing, not having it in public, and not even cluing anyone else in leadership in on the deal means that the Freedom Caucus can make up any damned thing and say McCarthy promised it.

“So I still don’t know what those agreements were. Whatever they are, [conservatives] feel that the agreements were broken. That’s got to get resolved. Hopefully it does,” Scalise said. So either McCarthy dealt in total secrecy, not even telling his leadership team the constraints they were operating under with the extremists, or the relationship between these two is so bad Scalise would lie about it.

McCarthy also created this mess by telling everybody what they wanted to hear back in April, to get the House’s original debt ceiling bill passed. The bill was essentially the Freedom Caucus’ wish list for American dystopia, and plenty of regular Republicans didn’t like it. McCarthy essentially told them that this bill was just symbolic, that it was important for the team to get something passed to force President Joe Biden into negotiations with them. It would never become law, he said. Meanwhile he was telling the Freedom Caucus that he would hold tough on their bill, and not agree to a “watered-down version.”

The problem here is no one can be trusted to be operating in good faith. McCarthy has clearly lied to get what he wanted—first the speakership and then a debt limit deal. The Freedom Caucus people will lie about anything and everything just because. The rest of the Republicans can’t trust the maniacs, but McCarthy has also proven that they can’t trust him either. Neither can his own leadership team. That leaves the House in chaos. As it stands, nothing can move forward until the handful of extremists allow it.

McCarthy has two choices: He can cave and give the Freedom Caucus total control of the House, or he can try to form a coalition government with the Democrats. If he chooses the former, he’s opening himself up to more extortion. His second choice, to appeal to the more moderate voices in his conference and work with the Democrats, depends on whether the Democrats are willing to help him out. They shouldn’t do so without some guarantees locked in, because by now everyone knows McCarthy can’t be trusted.

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we failed

https://www.alternet.org/house-freedom-caucus-member-failed/

an 5 23

no lnx

U.S. economy dodged a major bullet on Thursday night, June 1, when the U.S. Senate voted 63-36 to raise the country's debt ceiling. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had been warning that if Congress didn't get some type of budget worked out soon, the U.S. economy would begin to default on its debt obligations on Monday, June 5 — setting off an "economic and financial catastrophe."

After the budget agreement that President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-California) worked out passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, 314-117, on Wednesday, May 31, it went to the U.S. Senate for consideration. Liberal Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and conservative Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) reached an agreement as well, and the debt ceiling bill is now headed to Biden's desk to be signed into law.

Members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus tried to derail the Biden/McCarthy agreement, hoping it would die in the House and never make it the Senate. But their efforts proved fruitless.

READ MORE: 'Cruel and shortsighted': Progressives blast Biden-McCarthy debt ceiling deal

Those efforts are the focus of two early June articles: one in the liberal-leaning The New Republic, the other in the conservative Bulwark. And between the two, the Freedom Caucus' campaign against the bill is slammed from both the left and the right.

In The New Republic, journalist Michael Tomasky stresses that ultimately, the Freedom Caucus were the biggest "losers" of all in the debt ceiling battle.

"Well, I'm officially not scared of the Freedom Caucus anymore," Tomasky declares. "The big losers in this debt deal? Not Joe Biden, by a long shot. Politically, he's the biggest winner. Not Kevin McCarthy. He did what politicians normally do — he cut a deal — and he's still the speaker. Not the Democratic Party's left; 46 of them voted against the bill, but that was all orchestrated so that some Democrats could protest the cuts in the deal while Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries made sure the party as a whole backed their president. I'm certain Pramila Jayapal, the House Progressive Caucus chair who voted 'no,' supports Joe Biden no less fully today than she did yesterday."

Tomasky continues, "No — the losers are the Freedom Caucus. Remember six months ago? Two months ago? They were going to kill this deal, submarine their own speaker, cost him his job, and send the country into default and the world into economic chaos…. Where does this leave the Freedom Caucus? Completely and utterly toothless. They whined, but that's really about it."

READ MORE: 'Indefensible' Republicans demand 'capitulation' in debt ceiling crisis: Rachel Maddow producer

In The Bulwark, Never Trump conservative Will Saletan slams Freedom Caucus members for playing Russian roulette with the U.S. economy.

"On the Republican right," Saletan explains, "there's a cluster of (House) lawmakers who voted no — or who urged their colleagues to vote no —in part because Democrats endorsed the bill. To these lawmakers, anything the other party supports is suspect. This cluster of Republicans — what I call the antagonism caucus— is a subset of the House Freedom Caucus…. The antagonism caucus doesn't rely entirely on Democrats as a sign of what to avoid. It also steers away from anything supported by moderate — or even reasonable — Republicans."

The "antagonism caucus" members, Saletan laments, were willing to put the U.S. economy at risk simply to express their disdain for Democrats.

"Partisan polarization is bad for governing and policymaking," Saletan warns. "It's sad when public servants rely on negative tribalism, not affirmative principles, to guide their conduct. And in the case of the big national challenges such as defending Ukraine and paying America's debts, it's particularly dangerous."

READ MORE: Janet Yellen gives hard deadline for GOP to end economic hostage situation

Find The New Republic's full article here and read The Bulwark's full article at this link.

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omg

an 2 23 salon

How does a Republican congressman from central Pennsylvania — who is currently facing a federal investigation after allegedly spitballing ideas for a "paperwork coup" on behalf of Donald Trump — wind up with a committee seat that could allow him to see open Justice Department files about himself? Meet Rep. Scott Perry, the retired Army National Guard brigadier general who is now one of the most powerful members of Congress. He didn't get there alone.

Last week, a bipartisan group of lawmakers -- including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, of New York, and Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, of California -- voted unanimously to prevent the Justice Department from accessing Perry's cell phone contents in its wider probe of Donald Trump's 2020 election-subversion efforts.

That's only the latest turn of good luck for the embattled Perry, who's fought the DOJ's effort since the FBI seized his cell phone last August. On Jan. 5, a three-judge appeals court panel -- including two Trump appointees -- put a hold on a lower court's ruling, delaying DOJ access further.

But the House's latest move to back Perry against the DOJ highlights the fact that, unlikely as this may seem, both the far-right House Freedom Caucus he now leadsand the Democrats he views as his sworn enemies paved the way for his rise to power.

Sewers to swamps

It seems improbable now that Perry, whose record of wide-swinging claims goes back well before 2020, could have climbed the party ranks so quickly.

Perry once recklessly suggested, on live air, that ISIS was responsible for the 2018 mass shooting in Las Vegas. On another occasion, he accused then-CNN host Chris Cuomo of fabricating the extent of devastation in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria in 2017.

In a 2017 town hall meeting, Perry reportedly once blamed pollution on the almighty. While defending proposed budget cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency, Perry criticized the agency's Chesapeake Bay cleanup plans, claiming only certain polluters were targeted while other culprits were unfairly ignored.

"If you are spiritual and you believe in God, one of the violators was God because the forests were providing a certain amount of nitrates and phosphates to the Chesapeake Bay," he said.

That claim, unsurprisingly, was debunked by experts who note that water-side trees provide pollution runoff protection. But his divine deflection may have been less surprising to his constituents.

Perry was running his family's business, Hydrotech Mechanical Services, in 2002 when the company was caught dumping sewage sludge onto the banks of Stony Run Creek in south-central Pennsylvania. The state charged Perry with altering chemical-monitoring documents and he narrowly avoided a felony conviction. Instead, his company paid a $5,000 fine and Perry completed the state's Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition in what he called a "last-minute, at-the-courtroom deal that was never supposed to happen, but it did."

It wouldn't be the last time Perry would face accusations of hiding evidence.

Fireside chats

In the months after Trump's 2020 electoral defeat, former chief of staff Mark Meadows kept his office fireplace well-kindled. The fire was lit first thing in the morning by staff, his former aide testified, then heaped with logs throughout the day. And every so often, Meadows would walk over to his fireplace, remove its covering, and throw a few documents into the fire.

Meadows had been the chair of the House Freedom Caucus until 2019, a post Perry now holds, and the two men knew each other well. Perry had begun having meetings with Meadows that December, the aide said, arriving with physical papers and PowerPoint presentations to discuss former Vice President Mike Pence's role in certifying the 2020 election results — and what Perry "believed could happen on Jan. 6."

Eventually, Perry brought a few others to meet with Meadows, the aide said. With the fireplace lit and a room full of warm bodies, Meadows left his office door propped open. The aide saw Perry and the others inside, and sawMeadows again burning documents.

Perry's spokesman has denied he was ever part of these discussions, citing a Jan. 6 tweet from the congressman condemning the violence at the Capitol. But just hours after the attack, Perry joined other Republicans on the House floor in a failed attempt to prevent his own state's electoral votes from being counted. Perry would then spend months parroting Trump's baseless claims of election theft, arguing that Pennsylvania's 7 million votes should be thrown out.

Ultimately, the same aide who saw Perry leave Meadows' office amid the presumed or apparent destruction of documents would testify that Perry was among several members of Congress who had asked for her help in securing a preemptive presidential pardon. Perry has denied this, although not under oath.

Perry's Democratic hall pass

Eventually, members of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 events developed a clearer picture of Perry's role in Trump's failed bid to overturn the 2020 election results.

In a trove of texts leaked in December 2022, Perry and Meadows' 2020 exchanges surfaced, illuminating an array of schemes and outlandish notions aimed at reversing Trump's defeat. Perry sent YouTube conspiracy-theory videos about election-meddling Italian satellites, asking Meadows why the Italian government couldn't help the group's cause. Perry suggested seizing voting machines with a "cyber forensic team" after the election, and putting them under lock and key.

Perry went on to urge Meadows to get Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen replaced with a Trump-friendly figure in the DOJ, Jeffrey Clark. After Trump ordered Rosen to declare the election corrupt, Rosen refused. Trump responded by threatening to replace Rosen with Clark, who'd concocted a plan to help overturn the election results, but the then-president backed down from after a fiery meeting where several DOJ officials and Trump's own White House counsel, Pat Cipollone, threatened to quit in response. Those exchanges are now part of the reason the DOJ wants access to Perry's cell phone contents.

But back in July of 2022, House Oversight Committee members knew significantly less about Perry's role.They subpoenaed Perry, who responded by denying the legitimacy of the committee he now sits on, and refused to testify.

The committee's chair at the time, Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., had the authority to file contempt charges against Perry. But as CNN's Manu Raju reported, Raskin seemed to have "little appetite to refer House Republicans who defy subpoenas to DOJ on contempt charges -- saying it could lead to 'wild goose chases.'

"I don't know that Congress can take a member of Congress to court under the speech or debate clause," Raskin said, referring to Perry's defense that his cell phone conversations were immune from collection. "But our point here is not to come up with, you know, a dozen new dazzling theories to end up in a lot of wild goose chases all over the land."

"Our point is to bring back a report to the American people to Congress about what happened to us," Raskin told Raju.

Rather than facing contempt charges, Perry was referred to the House Ethics Committee, along with other members who refused to obey subpoena orders. But with a Republican majority in the House and Kevin McCarthy holding the speaker's gavel, both the Ethics Committee and the House ethics review office have become partisan chokepoints.

These days, Raskin sees Trump's indictment as imminent.

"We think there will be charges probably on some things we didn't even have, because we don't have all of the prosecutorial resources that the Department of Justice has, and so we think they probably collected a lot more evidence than we got," he told MSNBC on Friday.

Even if Raskin's prediction is correct, Perry's role in Trump's Jan. 6 plans may remain under a shroud of congressional secrecy. The party whose subpoenas he once dodged now, for its own reasons, has Perry's back in his tug-of-war with the DOJ.

On Feb. 23, the DOJ will get its chance to ask an appeals court in Washington for access to Perry's phone contents. House Democratic leaders will once again fight to keep Perry's evidence from coming out at all.

A House GOP proposal to repeal all federal income taxes—including levies on corporations and the rich—and replace them with a whopping 30% national sales tax is drawing increasingly vocal backlash from economists, tax policy experts, and Democratic lawmakers who say the plan is yet another Republican ploy to reward the wealthy at everyone else's expense

Unveiled earlier this month by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.), the Fair Tax Act is hardly a novel piece of legislation. As Steve Wamhoff of the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy noted in a recent blog post, the bill has its origins in a proposal "initially pitched by an organization created by the Church of Scientology during its dispute with the IRS over whether it constituted a church and was thus tax-exempt."

"The Church of Scientology's only goal in the matter was to eliminate the agency causing it trouble, and lost interest once the IRS threw in the towel and allowed it to present itself as a church," Wamhoff explained. "But by then several politicians had bought into the idea and introduced it as legislation, which has been reintroduced in each Congress since as the Fair Tax."

Carter's legislation, which currently has nearly two dozen House GOP co-sponsors, would abolish the IRS—a major gift to wealthy tax cheats—and eliminate the payroll taxes that finance Medicare and Social Security. The bill would also nix the individual income tax, the corporate income tax, the estate tax, and other taxes, establishing in their place a sales tax of 30% for calendar year 2023.

"The GOP's so-called 'Fair Tax' proposal is one of the most regressive proposals in a generation, imposing a 30% federal sales tax on everything Americans buy from gas to food," said former U.S. Labor Secretary Robert Reich. "There's nothing 'fair' about it. It would punish the poor and middle class while helping the rich."

In an attempt to offset the inherent regressivity of the sales tax, Carter's bill would send most U.S. households a monthly "prebate" to help families cover the costs of basic necessities—effectively replacing the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and other existing tax benefits that the measure would eliminate.

But Wamhoff argued the prebates would not be "nearly enough to offset the financial hit most Americans would face from the new national sales tax."

"Back in 2004, ITEP estimated that if the Fair Tax was enacted and the national sales tax rate was set at 45%, the poorest 80% of Americans would face net tax hikes from the proposal while most of those among the richest 20% would enjoy net tax cuts," Wamhoff wrote. "ITEP plans to re-estimate the proposal because a great deal has changed since 2004."

In a detailed of the "Fair Tax" plan, Matt Bruenig of thePeople's Policy Project that the poorest 20% of the U.S. public would pay roughly 70% of their income in taxes as a result of the bill's levy on consumption. [vid]

Democratic lawmakers and President Joe Biden have wasted no time seizing on the tax proposal as further evidence of the Republican Party's commitment to delivering huge windfalls to the rich.

"The GOP wants to scrap the income tax and replace it with a 30% sales tax," tweeted Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), the chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. "In WA State, where we have no income tax and rely on sales and excise taxes, the poorest families spend 17% of their income on taxes. The wealthiest spend 3%. This effort is a tax cut for the rich, period."

Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.) quipped on Wednesday that "it really must be Opposite Day if Republicans are claiming that a national 30% sales tax is 'fair.'"

"In what world is it fair to slam working families with huge tax increases, while giving tax breaks to the mega-rich?" Merkley asked.

On Thursday afternoon, Biden is expected to attack the GOP tax proposal as well as the Republican push to cut Social Security and Medicare in a speech at a steamfitters union hall in Springfield, Virginia.

"The president will outline the biggest threat to our economic progress: House Republicans' MAGA economic plan," an unnamed White House official toldReuters ahead of the address.

With Democrats in control of the Senate and the White House, the Fair Tax Act has no chance of becoming law, and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) only agreed to allow hearings on the legislation as part of the speakership deal he struck with far-right GOP holdouts.

But progressives argued the proposal offers a telling glimpse into the Republican Party's extreme economic priorities at a time of skyrocketing inequality, large-scale corporate tax avoidance, and economic hardship for poor and middle-class households.

"MAGA extremists are testing the waters to see how far they can go in their backwards economic agenda written by and for wealthy special interests—starting with a staggering 30% tax hike on the middle class with a national sales tax that would immediately make necessities unaffordable while letting greedy corporations off scot-free from any tax responsibility," Liz Zelnick, director of the Economic Security and Corporate Power program at Accountable.US, said in a statement Thursday.

“That's only the beginning," Zelnick continued. “A growing chorus in the Republican House caucus is scheming to sabotage the economy and the U.S. government's full faith and credit unless they get deep cuts to Social Security and Medicare benefits that keep millions of Americans out of poverty and in better health."

:{"When MAGA extremists openly threaten to push the economy off the cliff unless they can further enrich billionaires and big corporations at the expense of everyone else," she added, "believe them."

----

===

* = original

cosponsors who withdrew

Rep. Moore, Blake D. [R-UT-1]

01/11/2023

01/24/2023

H267

cosponsor	Date Cosponsored
Rep. Clyde, Andrew S. [R-GA-9]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Duncan, Jeff [R-SC-3]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Cammack, Kat [R-FL-3]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Perry, Scott [R-PA-10]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Good, Bob [R-VA-5]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Massie, Thomas [R-KY-4]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Norman, Ralph [R-SC-5]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Posey, Bill [R-FL-8]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Palmer, Gary J. [R-AL-6]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Banks, Jim [R-IN-3]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Loudermilk, Barry [R-GA-11]*	01/09/2023
Rep. Carter, John R. [R-TX-31]	01/11/2023
Rep. Bilirakis, Gus M. [R-FL-12]	01/11/2023
Rep. Gaetz, Matt [R-FL-1]	01/11/2023
Rep. Greene, Marjorie Taylor [R-GA-14]	01/11/2023
Rep. Rutherford, John H. [R-FL-5]	01/11/2023
Rep. Davidson, Warren [R-OH-8]	01/11/2023
Rep. Steube, W. Gregory [R-FL-17]	01/11/2023
Rep. Donalds, Byron [R-FL-19]	01/11/2023
Rep. Collins, Mike [R-GA-10]	01/13/2023
Rep. Moore, Barry [R-AL-2]	01/13/2023
Rep. Burlison, Eric [R-MO-7]	01/13/2023
Rep. Walberg, Tim [R-MI-5]	01/24/2023

===

https://www.businessinsider.com/gop-hard-right-rewarded-after-mccarthy-stance-boebert-plum-role-2023-1

no lnx

GOP Freedom Caucus is reaping its reward for holding House speaker election ransom, with even holdout Boebert given plum committee role

Sinéad Baker Jan 18, 2023,

GOP Freedom Caucus members initially held out on voting for Kevin McCarthy for House speaker.

Many have now received key appointments, including Lauren Boebert on the Oversight Committee.

McCarthy reportedly flipped members of the group by pledging committee seats for ultraconservatives.

Members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus have benefited from holding back on supporting Rep. Kevin McCarthy's bid for House Speaker, with members, including Rep. Lauren Boebert, now receiving roles on key committees.

Boebert and several other Freedom Caucus Republicans have been given seats on the House Oversight Committee, the main oversight body in the House of Representatives.

The committee will lead any investigations that Republicans launch into President Joe Biden and his administration.

Boebert has regularly criticized Biden, both questioning his competence and suggesting that his family are a "crime family."

Reps. Byron Donalds, Paul Gosar, and Scott Perry, other members of the Freedom Caucus, were also put on the committee, Axios reported.

Members of the Freedom Caucus, which include vocal Trump supporters and 2020 election deniers, repeatedly refused to support McCarthy in his bid for House speaker.

It took 15 rounds of voting for McCarthy to eventually get the support he required. Boebert never voted for him, even in the final ballot, when she was one of six holdouts.

McCarthy's bid to become the House speaker earlier this month was one of the most drawn out votes for the position in history. Most of the holdouts were members of the Freedom Caucus, with many of those flipping to vote for McCarthy in later ballots only after he agreed to key demands.

The New York Times reported in January that among the concessions McCarthy agreed to was granting ultraconservative members of the party approval over a third of the seats on the Rules Committee, which controls which legislation reaches the House floor.

Rep. Andy Bigs, a caucus member who didn't vote for McCarthy, and Rep. Dan Bishop, a caucus member who eventually gave his support, have kept their roles on the House Judiciary Committee,NBC News reported.

Meanwhile, Rep. Josh Brecheen, who voted for McCarthy on the 12th ballot, was given a seat on the Homeland Security Committee, while Reps. Mike Cloud and Andrew Clyde, who both eventually voted for McCarthy, have been given seats on the House Appropriations Committee.

Caucus member Marjorie Taylor Greene, who supported McCarthy throughout the process, was given a seat on theHomeland Security and Oversight Committees, and pledged on Tuesday to investigate Biden.

It is still not clear how much power McCarthy had to concede to finally get the role he has long coveted, Insider's Taiyler Simone Mitchell reported earlier this month.

Republicans won control of the House in the November midterms, but only by a slim majority, meaning that internal disagreements could limit their chance of pushing ahead with stated goals, including launching investigations into the Biden administration.

Republicans have 222 seats in the House, compared with 213 for the Democrats.

'Backroom deals'

Yet, moderates who were shut out from the Freedom Caucus’ turn at some backroom dealing claimed they remained in the dark about the deal’s full contents for several days after McCarthy cut his final deal with the rebels.

“What backroom deals were cut, did they try to cut, and did they get those? Because we shouldn’t be operating like Nancy Pelosi, this small faction,” South Carolina GOP Rep. Nancy Mace told CBS News on Jan. 8. “And they’re the ones that are saying they were ‘fighting the swamp,’ but then yet went and tried to act like, you know, like, they actually are the swamp by trying to do these backroom deals.

“And we don’t know what they got or didn’t get. We haven’t seen it,” said Mace, a McCarthy backer on all 15 floor ballots. “We don’t have any idea what promises were made or what gentlemen’s handshakes were made. We just have no idea at this point. And it does give me quite a bit of heartburn.”

The secretiveness of the dealmaking comes with risks. For instance, newly installed House GOP Whip Tom Emmer of Minnesota confirmed Tuesday that the final parts of the Freedom Caucus agreement lie somewhere between being “no addendum” and “more than just aspirational.”

“Publicly releasing the details is for their own benefit. If it’s not public, you can count on McCarthy later to pretend it never happened,” former Freedom Caucus member and former Rep. Justin Amash, R-Mich., warned in a Jan. 10 tweet.

And while Freedom Caucus and other conservative members last week delivered a master class in all the tactics they had long railed against, doubts abound about whether they will help their party actually pass legislation — especially the spending bills that so irk them.

“There are many in the House GOP caucus who simply object to the routine function of governing,” former GOP Rep. David Jolly of Florida said by email. “It will inevitably lead to a severely compromised GOP speaker, or more likely, a very short-tenured speaker.”

But Clemson’s Wallner said, “The negotiations appear to have produced a more open process — the accountability link between lawmakers and constituents is not diluted nor undermined.”

Time will tell on that.

'Not a weakened speaker'

Paradoxically, Emmer suggested Tuesday that the concessions conservatives extracted from McCarthy were all secured in public view, for the entire country to witness. Typically, he argued, such negotiations “take place behind closed doors, long before anyone gets to see how the sausage is made.”

That is correct. But it ignores the fact that Freedom Caucus members met with McCarthy and his consiglieres in private all week.There was no negotiation broadcast live on C-SPAN and cable news networks. Both sides kept telling reporters they would not answer their questions and negotiate through the press.

That did not stop Emmer on Tuesday from contending that Pelosi had secured her second speakership in 2019 by “giving away all sorts of things” in private meetings. Fact check: While true, McCarthy did exactly the same thing.

Emmer defended McCarthy, saying the agreement the speaker worked out with the Freedom Caucus and its allies would make McCarthy “arguably not a weakened speaker.” Operative word: “arguably.”

In what your correspondent hopes is a preview of what Emmer will bring to the leadership team’s media engagements, he went even further, saying the agreement will make McCarthy “perhaps the strongest speaker in modern times — more on that to come.” Operative words: “to come.”

Freedom Caucus members’ gripes are not exclusively about McCarthy.

“This is no different from being in any congressional Republican district,” Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas, said in a brief interview. “They’re hearing directly from people back home that want to see more fight and less wag. The wag is trying to get things so you can get them to pass.”

“There are those that want something that’s different,” he added.

The unresolved problem for House Republicans is that the McCarthy-Freedom Caucus deal did little, if anything, to resolve the conflict between “different” and “the wag.”

Editor-at-Large John T. Bennett writes a weekly column for Roll Call, parts of which first appeared in the subscription-based CQ Afternoon Briefing newsletter.

mccarthy 100 yr fail

During a House GOP meeting this week, $_{tensions rose}_$ as the party proceeded to determine who will be the next Speaker of the House.

Current House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) reaffirmed his competence in the position to colleagues who oppose his second term. During $_{a CNN segment}_$ , Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju said that McCarthy passionately raised his voice, saying “I have earned this job!”

“Bulls***!", Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert (R) exclaimed in response.

Raju noted that even if McCarthy does not receive all 218 House votes, the congressman is saying that he is “not going anywhere.”

Strains continued to linger after the meeting during Raju’s interview with Texas GOP Rep. and McCarthy ally Dan Crenshaw, who declared that McCarthy's supporters will be “more stubborn” [than McCarthy's opposers] when it comes to the vote.

“This handful of members are very clearly looking for notoriety over principle,” Crenshaw told Raju. “And anyone who suggests differently is in some kind of make-believe fantasy reality.”

Crenshaw said, “they lost those debates, and that should’ve been the end of it.” But, “if you’re a narcissist and you believe your opinion is so much more important than everyone else’s and you’ll threaten to test down the team for the benefit of the Democrats just because of your own sense of self-importance.”

“We will not vote for anyone else other than McCarthy,” Crenshaw said. “These people think they’re stubborn; we’re more stubborn.”

He asserted, “They are enemies now. They have made it clear they prefer a Democrat agenda over a Republican one.”

Watch the interview below or at this link.

an 12 22

after the 2020 presidential election, Rep. Scott Perry was among Pennsylvania’s most vocal promoters of the Big Lie. Perry falsely claimed that widespread voter fraud occurred in the Keystone State — a claim that has been repeatedly debunked — and pushed for its electoral votes to be taken away from the Democrat who legitimately won the state: now-President Joe Biden.

Then, after the January 6, 2021 insurrection, Perry (who chairs the far-right House Freedom Caucus) asked outgoing then-President Donald Trump for a preemptive pardon, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is continuing to investigate the January 6, 2021 insurrection and the events that led up to it. After the 2022 midterms, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel, Jack Smith, to head the investigation. And the DOJ, CNN reports, is trying to “gain access” to text messages that Perry sent during that late 2020/early 2021 lame duck period as part of that probe.

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz, in an article published on December 14, explains, “The investigative work, now overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith, is significant given that Perry texted then-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows about advice from a ‘cyber forensic team’ he was in touch with after the 2020 election. Perry believed election security was compromised, contributing to Donald Trump’s loss of the presidency, and wanted to preserve voting machines after the election. That led the Pennsylvania lawmaker to be in touch with powerful Trump backers, including (former White House Chief of Staff Mark) Meadows, Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark and others who pushed false claims of election fraud.”

In a text sent to Meadows on November 10, 2020, Perry, according to Polantz, wrote, “Plz tell every state senior that they need to 1. Preserve the specific voting machines (scanners)…. Please ensure widest dissemination and action.”

Polantz reports, “Perry’s communications with Meadows suggest the congressman was keen to disseminate the same types of direction to others. He then asked Meadows for contacts in Wisconsin and Arizona, andMeadows later referred him to another Republican member of Congress, Texas Republican Rep. Chip Roy…. CNN first reported in the spring on the Meadows texts, after obtaining 2319 text messages that Meadows had sent and received between Election Day 2020 and the 2021 inauguration. The texts were among those selectively provided by Meadows to the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021 insurrection.”

In August 2022, DOJ investigators “seized” Perry’s cell phone “as part of” its January 6 investigation.

“Perry sued the Justice Department days after the search, then quickly asked the court to put the public-facing lawsuit on hold,” Polantz notes. “The Justice Department approached Perry’s phone seizure and other phone seizures from Trump allies in two parts, according to sources familiar with the investigation and public filings. DOJ would image the phone through an initial warrant and then seek a second warrant through confidential court proceedings to access the data…. Perry, according to his lawsuit, tried to hold off federal investigators from accessing his phone data by claiming some of it was personal or protected by the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects the work of members of Congress.”

The Democrat’s surprising strength in the midterms has been framed mostly as a rebuke of Republicans’ attack on abortion rights and on democracy. The GOP’s flirtation with imperial oligarchic Russian leader Vladimir Putin has, in contrast, received little attention.

That’s not exactly a mistake. Foreign policy rarely drives many votes, and the war between Russia and Ukraine was never a top issue for voters or for candidates on the campaign trail.

And yet the Democratic midterm strength serves as a powerful defeat not just for the GOP, but for Putin. Republican losses in the Senate and narrow gains in the House all but guarantee that the US will continue to lead international support for Ukraine.

GOP Putinistas

The GOP has been divided on aid for Ukraine. An older, more traditional wing of the party, steeped in Reaganite Cold War antagonism to the Soviet Union, has supported the (much more justified) Ukrainian war against Russia imperial invasion.

But there’s another wing that’s openly pro-Putin.

Putin has long cultivated ties with far-right nationalist groups globally, portraying himself as a defender of manly tradition through shirtless iconography and vicious homophobic policies.

He saw a potential ally in wannabe-authoritarian Donald Trump, and tried to aid his campaigns in 2016 and (less successfully) in 2020.

Trump reciprocated by praising Putin consistently over the last six years. Most recently, he called the Russian invasion of Ukraine “genius” and “wonderful.”

Trump’s enthusiasm has affected his partisans.

Between 2015 and 2017, GOP opinions of Putin went up 20 points from 12 percent favorability to 32 percent favorable. A February poll found that Putin’s favorables among Republicans were higher than those of Democratic President Joe Biden.

It’s not just the rank-and-file either. Fox News far-right host Tucker Carlson has ceaselessly pumped out pro-Putin propaganda since the invasion of Ukraine in February. So has Carlson’s frequent guest, erstwhile progressive and current far-right shill Glenn Greenwald.

Many in the GOP conference have followed along. In the House, the chair of the rabid more-MAGA-than-thou Freedom Caucus, Scott Perry, wants to investigate, and potentially spike, US aid to Ukraine.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy signaled support for Perry in an interview in October: “I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine.”

In May, 57 House Republicans voted against $40 billion in aid to Ukraine. Eleven senators joined them, including Rand Paul and Josh Hawley.

In addition, one of the few midterm contests focused on foreign policy was that of JD Vance, the Ohio Republican Senator-elect, boosted by fash-curious tech billionaire Peter Thiel, who made opposition to Ukraine a centerpiece of his campaign.

Republicans are split

With far-right Putinophilia bubbling up from the MAGA swamp, observers believed Biden might have real trouble continuing support for Ukraine. Reports suggest Russia put off announcing its retreat from Kherson until after the midterms because Putin did not want news of a Ukrainian victory to bolster Democrats.

Republicans who support Ukrainian aid were reportedly nervous that they’d be undercut in a GOP-controlled House. Biden was floating a Ukrainian aid package in the lame-duck session of the Congress, anticipating that further funding might be blocked.

Democrats may still vote on a Ukraine funding bill. But prospects for aid in the new Congress have significantly improved.

First of all, Democrats retained control of the Senate. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has strongly supported aid for Ukraine. Even so, his conference is unpredictable, and the Democrats are in a much better position to buttress Biden’s foreign policy priorities than they would have been had they lost the chamber.

Democrats did lose the House — but it was very close. The GOP majority is likely to be somewhere between 220-215 and 222-213.

McCarthy — or whoever the GOP chooses as speaker — is will block many Democratic initiatives on abortion rights, voting rights and much else. Ukrainian aid is different, though. That’s an issue that sharply divides McCarthy’s own caucus. Even if he wanted to, he’s not going to be able to win a vote striking down Ukrainian aid.

And if he were to try, the Democrats could likely get enough GOP support to bring it to the floor without his say-so.

Opposition to aid would likely expose huge fissures in the Republican caucus and lead to an embarrassing defeat for the speaker.

Stepping away, domestically

If the GOP were a normal party, that would be the end of that.

But the conference is neither normal, so there are caveats.

Representatives like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Jordan and Matt Gaetz hate their more moderate Republican colleagues almost as much as they hate Democrats. They might oppose Ukrainian aid precisely because they know it would put their own speaker in an impossible and humiliating position.

So there could be bumps in the road.

The bottom line is that after their weak showing in the midterms, the Trumpy GOP pro-Putin wing doesn’t have the leverage to successfully advance their dream of global totalitarianism.

The defeat of election deniers in races for governor and secretary of state across the country means that the US has taken a step back from authoritarianism — domestically.

https://www.alternet.org/2022/11/kevin-mccarthy/

an 922

A former investigator for the House Select Committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection recently expressed concern about Reps. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) and Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) repeated echoing of former President Donald Trump.

In fact, he believes the lawmakers' support of the former president's "unhinged conspiracy theories" has convinced him that they are both detached from reality and adamant about ignoring facts.

According to Business Insider, former January 6 House committee investigator Denver Riggleman laid out his arguments in his new book, "The Breach: The Untold Story of the Investigation into January 6th."

He also expressed concern about the lawmakers' mental health. "I came to believe Gosar and Gohmert may have had serious cognitive issues," Riggleman wrote in his book.

Riggleman's criticism, per Insider, is a result of "absorbing all the wild ideas the conservative duo would throw around while they huddled with other members of thefar-right House Freedom Caucus."

His remarks, per the news outlet, also coincide with a poll included in its "Red, White, and Gray" project, described as an exploration of "life in a democracy helmed by those of advanced age."

In excerpts of the book referenced by The Guardian, Riggleman wrote that the Republican lawmakers "seemed to be joined at the brain stem when it came to their eagerness to believe wild, dramatic fantasies about Democrats, the media and big tech."

The results of the poll suggest many Americans support the idea of Congressional candidates undergoing medical exams to ensure they are fit for office.

According to the poll, "Eighty-one percent of respondents said they support subjecting congressional candidates to physical and mental exams before they're allowed to serve — an issue that's already on voters' minds as the 2024 presidential race takes shape."

dirty trick

an 9 22 badash

More than 50 House and Senate Republicans are joining in an effort to disenfranchise “lame duck” Democrats in the House and Senate to prevent them from voting on critical budget legislation, but not trying to apply the same standard to their fellow GOP lawmakers.

In a move that sounds somewhat like what Senator Mitch McConnell did to derail Merrick Garland’s Supreme Court appointment, the far-right Republicans are urging their colleagues to block any budget bill until a new Congress is sworn in, hoping Democrats lose control of one or both branches of Congress.“

The Monday letters come as Congress has 10 days to take action before government funding runs out at the end of the fiscal year after Sept. 30,” The Hill reports.

“We must not accept anything short of a ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution (‘CR’) that contains no additional spending or extraneous policy riders,” writes Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) in the Senate GOP’s letter. “At a minimum, any agreement on a clean CR must carry over into the beginning of the 118th Congress. Failure to stand strong against lame-duck spending and caving to the Democrats will likely worsen inflation, prolong the current economic recession, and advance policies contained in the Biden administration’s progressive wish-list.”

The U.S. is not in a recession, nor is one expected in the coming months.

The House letter is even more extreme.

“Federal dollars are fueling rampant inflation and funding theBiden administration’s radical agenda,” it begins. “This includes empowering authoritarian bureaucrats at agencies like the IRS and FBI, implementing open-border policies that are threatening our communities, imposing COVID-19 mandates that shut down schools and are forcing our military servicemembers out of their jobs, and advancing self-destructive energy policies.”

Among the far right Republicans signing on to the Senate letter are Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), and Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL).

MOST IF NOT ALL FREEDOM COCKS:]

In the House, signatories include far right GOP Members of Congress Chip Roy, Ralph Norman, Jim Banks, Dan Bishop, Jim Jordan, Lauren Boebert, Kat Cammack, Scott DesJarlais, Scott Perry, Jody Hice, Ken Buck, Matt Gaetz, Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Byron Donalds, Thomas Massie, and Louie Gohmert.

an 4 22

According to a report from Politico's Olivia Beavers, despite all outward appearances, Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert are at odds with each other, with the Colorado Republican unhappy she is mentioned in the same breath as her Georgia colleague.

In a deep dive into squabbles that are pulling apart the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus, Beavers reports that at a recent conference the two had to be separated.

According to the report, "Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert look from the outside like MAGA twins, both loathed by Democrats for their incendiary right-wing rhetoric. But inside the House GOP, they’re not quite buddy-buddy."

The report notes that Boebert fits in more with the thinking of her Republican colleagues ("a team player") and she joined many of them in being furious with Greene over her appearance at a white nationalist conference well months ago.

As Beavers wrote, when the House Freedom Caucus board of directors gathered last month at its usual spot a few blocks from the Capitol, the two tangled over Greene’s appearance at a February event organized by a known white nationalist."

"Their confrontation grew so heated that at least one onlooker feared the Greene-Boebert back-and-forth might escalate beyond the verbal cage match had another board member not stepped in to de-escalate, according to a GOP lawmaker who was granted anonymity to describe what happened," Politico reports.

"The incident was confirmed by three people connected to the Freedom Caucus, whose members largely avoided public criticism of Greene and Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) at the time and focused their discontent on the event organizer, Nick Fuentes," the report added.

You can read more here.

sedition caucus well repped, even more so freedom cocks?

~ ESG transparency climate action

https://www.sec.gov/comments/s7-10-22/s71022-20123081-279409.pdf

april 11 2022

Vanessa A. Countryman

Secretary

Securities and Exchange Commission

100 F Street NE, Washington, DC 20549-1090

RE: File No. S7-10-22

Dear Ms. Countryman:

We, the undersigned Members of Congress, have significant concerns with the Securities and

Exchange Commission’s (SEC) proposed rule on “The Enhancement and Standardization of

Climate-Related Disclosures for Investors.” This proposal would require publicly traded

companies to disclose their climate-related risks, report greenhouse gas emissions, and report

possible financial effects of climate change. We urge you to immediately table this rule.

Not only would this proposal addadditional red tape and bureaucracy that would be extremely

burdensome, if not impossible, for many public companies to fully comply with, but it would

also far exceed the authority that Congress explicitly granted the SEC. The SEC cannot and

should not mandate such public disclosures of information that strays from the “core purpose of

disclosure, [which] is to provide investors with the information they need to make informed

investment and voting decisions,” which “allow[s] our capital markets to flourish.”1

It isapparent that, as we have recently seen, this information would only be used to smear these

companies. [demonize FF ceo //?]

This proposal would drastically disrupt the current disclosure regime. Current SEC disclosure

mandates are intended to provide investors with insightful material information into a company’s

performance. SEC Commissioner Peirce emphasized that this proposal, instead, would tell

“corporate managers how regulators, doing the bidding of an array of non-investor stakeholders,

expect them to run their companies.”2

This would force everyday investors to view companies

through a tinted lens, obscured by the demands of vocal stakeholders “for whom a company’s

climate reputation is of equal or greater importance than a company’s financial performance.”3

Ultimately, the SEC’s actions would act to undermine and shame public companies, not to

provide investors with necessary financial disclosures.

furthermore, at a time of global turmoil, when energy prices are at decade highs, how would this

rule be beneficial to American citizens? Simply wrapping climate activism in financial regulation

will only further exacerbate our current energy crisis and do nothing to help everyday Americans

heat or cool their homes or lower prices at the gas pump. Instead, we need to refocus our

attention on domestic energy production and wean ourselves off energy from hostile nations.

Additional “climate” regulations will only hinder our ability to achieve this goal. Given the

current global and domestic circumstances, the administration should be focused on making the

basic necessities of life less expensive, not more.

The SEC has proposed disclosures that are outside of its historical purview in order to engage in

environmental policy. It is, however, the role of Congress – and, importantly, not the role of

financial regulators – to set climate-related policy, balancing interests and engaging with

stakeholders to appropriately move us to a more energy-efficient nation. This Administration

must end its assault on American businesses and the rule of law in the name of an immediate and

expensive transition to a “Green New Deal” agenda.

Sincerely,

Ted Budd

Member of Congress

Ralph Norman

Dan Bishop nope

Bill Posey

Scott Perry

William R. Timmons IV nope

Stephanie Bice

Richard Hudson

Alexander X. Mooney

Mo Brooks

Louie Gohmert

Bruce Westerman

Debbie Lesko

Byron Donalds

John Joyce

Tom McClintock

Michael C. Burgess, M.D.

John Rose

Andrew S. Clyde

C. Scott Franklin

Ben Cline

Jay Obernolte

Rodney Davis

Ashley Hinson

Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S.

David B. McKinley P.E.

Yvette Herrell

Andy Biggs

Tom Rice

Daniel Webster

Michael Guest

Michael Cloud

Lauren Boebert

Kat Cammack

Pat Fallon

W. Gregory Steube

Nancy Mace

2019

andy Biggs of Arizona^[58]
Mo Brooks of Alabama^[59]
Ken Buck of Colorado^[60]
Ted Budd of North Carolina^[61]
Ben Cline of Virginia^[62]
Michael Cloud of Texas^[62]
Warren Davidson of Ohio^[63]
Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee^[64]
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina^[65]
Russ Fulcher of Idaho^[62]
Matt**Gaetz**of Florida^[66][67]
Louie Gohmert of Texas^[68]
Paul **Gosar** of Arizona^[69]
Mark E. Green of Tennessee^[62]
Morgan Griffith of Virginia^[10]
Andy Harris of Maryland^[70]
Jody**Hice**of Georgia^[71]
JimJordan of Ohio^[72]
Debbie Lesko of Arizona^[73]
MarkMeadowsof North Carolina^[72][57]
Alex Mooney of West Virginia^[70]
Greg Murphy of North Carolina (won special election)^[74]
Ralph Norman of South Carolina^[75] backs ^MTG ^on ^guns ^j6?
Gary Palmer of Alabama^[76]
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania^[70]
Bill Posey of Florida^[70]
Denver Riggleman of Virginia^[62] 180 ^-->^ ^J6 ^comm
Chip Roy of Texas^[62] j6 ^meadows ^scott ^perry
David **Schweikert**of Arizona^[60]
Randy Weber of Texas^[77]
Ron Wright of Texas ^[62]
Ted **Yoho**of Florida^[77]

Current members 2022

A number of members have identified themselves, or have been identified by others, as belonging to the Freedom Caucus. There are at least 44 caucus members as of May 2022; those members include:

Alabama

Barry Moore (AL-2)[67]

Mo Brooks (AL-5)[68] (retiring at end of 117th Congress)

Gary Palmer (AL-6)[69]

Arizona

Paul Gosar (AZ-4)[70]

Andy Biggs (AZ-5)[71]

David Schweikert (AZ-6)[72]

Debbie Lesko (AZ-8)[73]

Colorado

Lauren Boebert (CO-3)[74]

Ken Buck (CO-4)[75]

Florida

Matt Gaetz (FL-1)[76]

Bill Posey (FL-8)[77]

Greg Steube (FL-17)[78]

Byron Donalds (FL-19)[79][80]

Georgia

Andrew Clyde (GA-9)[81]

Jody Hice (GA-10)[82] (retiring at end of 117th Congress)

Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14)[83]

Idaho

Russ Fulcher (ID-1)[84]

Illinois

Mary Miller (IL-15)[85]

Louisiana

Clay Higgins (LA-3)[86]

Mike Johnson (LA-4)[87]

Maryland

Andy Harris (MD-1)[88]

Montana

Matt Rosendale (MT-AL)[89]

New Mexico

Yvette Herrell (NM-2)[90]

North Carolina

Dan Bishop (NC-9)[91]

Madison Cawthorn (NC-11)[92] (lost renomination in 2022)

Ted Budd (NC-13)[93] (running for Senate in 118th Congress)

Ohio

Jim Jordan (OH-4) – Vice chair[94]

Warren Davidson (OH-8)[95]

Pennsylvania

Scott Perry (PA-10) – Chair[96]

South Carolina

Jeff Duncan (SC-3)[97]

Ralph Norman (SC-5)[98]

Tennessee

Scott DesJarlais (TN-4)[99]

Mark E. Green (TN-7)[100]

Texas

Louie Gohmert (TX-1)[101] (retiring at end of 117th Congress)

Randy Weber (TX-14)[102]

Chip Roy (TX-21)[103]

Troy Nehls (TX-22)[104]

Michael Cloud (TX-27)[105]

Virginia

Bob Good (VA-5)[106]

Ben Cline (VA-6)[107]

Morgan Griffith (VA-9)[108]

West Virginia

Alex Mooney (WV-2)[109]

Wisconsin

Tom Tiffany (WI-7)[110]

The chairman of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus is demanding **U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn** (R-NC) back up his incendiary charges that several members of Congress invited him to alleged orgies where they would do “key bumps” of cocaine.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) (photo), who has been asked by the January 6 Committee to testify but has refused, told Politico’s Olivia Beavers, “I think it is important, if you’re going to say something like that, to name some names.”

Tuesday Beavers also reported that House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had wanted to speak with Cawthorn about the allegations – not to start any type of investigation, but because some Republicans said they were “upset” Cawthorn made the claim.

Perry and McCarthy are not the only ones angered about Cawthorn’s charges.

“You should have to name names if you are going to go make those kinds of brush stroke accusations and impugn the character of people in this institution or … anybody else in this town,” an unnamed House Republican, told Beavers.

Last week Cawthorn told the “Warrior Poet Society” podcast that, Beavers writes, “he received invitations along the lines of “‘hey, we’re going to have kind of a sexual get-together at one of our homes, you should come’.”

“What did you just ask me to come to?” Cawthorn said. “And then you realize they are asking you to come to an orgy.”

https://www.alternet.org/2021/11/first-act-of-newly-elected-head-of-house-gops-most-extreme-group-is-announcement-hes-just-tested-positive-for/

badash ncrm

Members of the Freedom Caucus, the most extreme group of House Republicans, just elected a new leader, U.S. Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania. His first act was to announce he has just tested positive for COVID-19.

Perry is a far right wing extremist who has repeatedly spread falsehoods about election fraud – and compared Democrats to Nazis.

He was first elected to Congress in 2006, ran unopposed or with no Republican challenger several times, thanks in part to what was later found to be an unconstitutional gerrymandered district.

Rep. Perry, "an outspoken Pennsylvania Republican, played a significant role in the crisis that played out at the top of the Justice Department," in December of 2020, The New York Times reported, "when Mr. Trump considered firing the acting attorney general and backed down only after top department officials threatened to resign en masse."

Perry introduced Trump to DOJ attorney Jeffrey Clark, the acting chief of the civil division, who "was sympathetic to Mr. Trump's view that the election had been stolen."

Mr. Perry introduced the president to Mr. Clark, whose openness to conspiracy theories about election fraud presented Mr. Trump with a welcome change from the acting attorney general, Jeffrey A. Rosen, who stood by the results of the election and had repeatedly resisted the president's efforts to undo them.

Congressman Perry was also one of just 18 members of the House to vote against a resolution condemning the dangerous anti-Democratic conspiracy theory QAnon, "a collective delusion that alleges President Donald Trump is fighting a Satan-worshipping cabal of elites who abuse children," Buzzfeed reported last year, noting the vote came just "three days after its followers targeted Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski with death threats."

In June Rep. Perry compared Democrats to Nazis, as The Jerusalem Post reported, when he said: "It wasn't a government in Germany that took the people's rights away immediately. It was fascism. Fascism took it away, because the government put the heavy hand on the companies and the companies did the government's work. Well look around, ladies and gentlemen." [what?]

"The Left are always coming… We have to be stronger and louder than them… They are destroying our economy. They are destroying our energy sector. They are going to do this if we let them, and we can not let them… Go fight them."

===

an 1020

marjorie Taylor Greene, a QAnon conspiracy theorist and Republican candidate who is expected to win her House race in Georgia next month, donated $450,000 to her own campaign after receiving a six-figure Paycheck Protection Program loan from the government for her construction company.

Greene, who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory and posted videos attacking Black people, Muslims and Jews, won the Republican primary in Georgia's 14th congressional district in August despite opposition from Republican leaders. She is almost certain to take over the seat now held by retiring Republican Rep. Tom Graves, especially after her Democratic opponent dropped out of the race last month in a district President Trump carried by 50 points. Trump has since praised Greene as a :{"future :(style="background-color:#ffffff;"):}::{Republican star.":(style="background-color:#ffff66;"):}:

Greene's bid was partially funded by a super PAC allied with the House Freedom Caucus, which has opposed additional funding to provide coronavirus relief to Americans.Greene has opposed additional spending as well, declaring in a Facebook video that "the best stimulus for Americans is allowing Americans to go back to work!"

Despite her opposition to the stimulus funding and the PPP, her family's company, Taylor Commercial, received a six-figure PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 earlier this year. New York Magazine reported that her name had stopped appearing on the company's registration forms in 2012 but was added back in 2019.

Greene, who had loaned her campaign $900,000, donated $450,000 to her campaign about two months after the PPP loan, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Her main opponent in the Republican primary, neurosurgeon John Cowan, raised questions about the donation during the campaign.

"Earlier this week, you said that you didn't want Congress to pass more COVID-related emergency funds for businesses. But your business took as much as $350,000 in PPP loans from the federal government at the same time you were putting $900,000 into your campaign,". "So if you don't need the money and you have the discretionary funds, will you commit to returning that money to the citizens?"

Greene accused Cowan of being "disconnected" from business owners and "people who have struggled during this government shutdown."

"I am appalled at the fact that you cannot comprehend that I have a construction company and we can't do construction remotely at home," she said, not denying that she opposed the very funds that her company drew from.

"Construction companies were considered essential and they didn't shut down," Cowan shot back. "So you were making plenty of money — plus you used $900,000 of your own money during the campaign. Don't you think you had a little extra to pay your employees? I find it disingenuous that you took money from taxpayers to pay for your employees while you were paying yourself."

Spencer Hogg, Cowan's campaign manager, later said in a statement that Greene's company "wasn't one of those facing hardships."

"She says she's a fiscal conservative, she said last week that she opposed additional emergency funding for businesses forced to close because of COVID, but as we've seen on multiple issues, Marjorie doesn't let principle interfere with self-interest," he said in a statement. "If she has enough money to spend nearly $1 million to advance her own political ambitions, then she has enough to pay her employees, particularly in an industry that didn't have to stop working during the lockdown."

Greene's campaign did not respond to questions from Salon.

Greene is not the only Republican candidate who has self-funded a campaign while taking PPP loans.

Former Rep. Darrell Issa,R-Calif., received a PPP loan for one of his companies worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in May, weeks before he loaned his campaign $150,000. Issa, who has a net worth of $280 million to $400 million and was the richest member of Congress between 2000 and 2018, is trying to stage a political comeback by running for the Southern California seat recently vacated by convicted former Rep. Duncan Hunter, a Republican.

Issa's Democratic opponent ,Ammar Campa-Najjar, called for "millionaires like Darrell Issa" to be banned from collecting PPP loans during a debate last week.

Issa said at the debate that he opposed funding the PPP entirely, arguing it would be "foolhardy" and that "paying people not to work has run its course."

Another California Republican candidate, Michelle Steele, also received a PPP loan worth between $150,000 and $350,000 in April for her family law firm. She donated $500,000 to her campaign in California's 48th congressional district against Rep. Harley Rouda, a Democratic freshman narrowly elected in the 2018 "blue wave."

Rep. Vern Buchanan, a Florida Republican, received PPP loans worth up to $7 million for his auto dealerships before donating $250,000 to his campaign.

Accountable.US, a progressive watchdog group that tracks recipients of PPP loans, called on all four candidates to return the money to taxpayers.

"The PPP program was meant to save jobs, not bail out business owners looking for a gig in D.C.," spokesman Derek Martin said in a statement to Salon. "These candidates should return this money and tell the president to get back to work on a relief bill that will help all Americans during this pandemic."

===

https://www.alternet.org/2020/08/conservative-writer-warns-the-gop-is-increasingly-embracing-the-utter-lunacy-of-qanon/

no lnx twt vid?

Conservative writer warns the GOP is increasingly embracing the ‘utter lunacy’ of QAnon

Written by Alex Henderson August 14, 2020

On Tuesday, August 11, the QAnon conspiracy cult enjoyed a major victory when far-right QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene won a Republican primary in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District and was congratulated by President Donald Trump — who wasn’t the least bit troubled by her pro-QAnon views. And veteran conservative pundit/author Mona Charen, in an article published in The Bulwark on August 13, laments the willingness of prominent Republicans to endorse those who embrace the “utter lunacy” of QAnon.

The QAnon cult believes that Trump was elected president to combat an international pedophile/child sex ring that operates within the U.S. government and that an anonymous figure named “Q” is providing updates on Trump’s battle. Greene, in a 2017 video that has been posted on YouTube, expressed her solidarity with QAnon. And considering how deeply Republican her district is, Greene has a very good chance of defeating the Democratic candidate, tech worker Kevin Van Ausdale, in November and taking a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in January 2021.

Charen explains: “Pizzagate morphed into the QAnon conspiracy in which Q followers wait for signals from their leader that a vast conspiracy of Satanic child abusers, run by the ‘Deep State,’ George Soros, the Supreme Court, and God knows who else is about to be unmasked.Did I mention that they think Beyoncé is only pretending to be black? It’s a hydra-headed thing, this conspiracy, and contains multitudes. But the one common thread is this: the great deliverer will be Donald J. Trump.”

QAnon, Charen writes, is a “paranoid conspiracy (theory that) has gathered momentum at the Republican grassroots.”

Greene is not an anomaly: support for QAnon has been growing in the Republican Party.

“No fewer than 60 current or former congressional candidates have expressed interest in or support for the QAnon conspiracy,” Charen laments. “One of them, Jo Rae Perkins, got the Republican nomination for Senate in Oregon. And now, Marjorie Taylor Greene seems almost certain to be going to Congress.”

Charen notes that although some prominent Republicans condemned Greene — including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and House Minority Whip Steve Scalise — Trump and others have embraced her.

“Greene received backing from the House Freedom Fund, an arm of the House Freedom Caucus,” Charen observes. “Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and former Rep. Mark Meadows, now Trump’s chief of staff, also backed Greene.”

To make matters worse, Charen adds, Greene critics like Kinzinger are being slammed by Trump supporters for speaking out against her.

Voters in Georgia’s 14th Congressional District, Charen points out, could have chosen her GOP primary rival, Dr. John Cowan — who she describes as a “gun-rights-supporting, anti-abortion Trump loyalist” — to run against Van Ausdale. Instead, they went with someone even further to the right: a QAnon extremist.

“It’s odd that Republicans, who pride themselves on their practical understanding of life — incentives matter, money doesn’t grow on trees, personal responsibility is essential to a well-ordered society — should display such a marked weakness for utter lunacy,” Charen laments. “I don’t offer an explanation, just a warning. This disordered thinking is no longer just a fringe phenomenon.”

820 COVID FAIL

staffer alyssa farah (patrick henry , williamson) in small cabal that fed BS trump on how well he was dealing w/ covid; fuckwit pizzagaetz worse gas mask on flr; mick is in [actually mnu? ]charge of covid bill b/c mcconn has gone home; gym jordan, meadows COS massive covid fail...LOUIE FUCKING GOHMERT MAY HAVE INFECTED GRIJALVA AND BARR

GOV k noem south dakota declined to join

schweikert secret sci BS w/ lamar smith

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Caucus

Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative and libertarian Republican members of the United States House of Representatives.^[1][3][2] It was formed in 2015 by what member Jim Jordan called a “smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active” group of conservative congressmen,^[13] and is currently chaired by Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona.

Many members are also part of the much larger Republican Study Committee.^[13][14] The caucus is sympathetic to the Tea Party movement.^[15] The Freedom Caucus is considered the furthest-right bloc within the House Republican Conference.^[16][17] The caucus supports House candidates through its PAC, the House Freedom Fund.^[18][19]

History

The caucus originated during the mid–January 2015 Republican congressional retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania.^[20] According tofounding member Mick Mulvaney,“that was the first time we got together and decided we were a group, and not just a bunch of pissed-off guys,”.^[21] Nine conservative active Republican members of the House began planning a new Congressional caucus separate from the Republican Study Committee and apart from the House Republican Conference. The founding members who constituted the first board of directors for the new caucus were Republican representatives Scott Garrett of New Jersey, Jim Jordan of Ohio, John Fleming of Louisiana, Matt Salmon of Arizona, Justin Amash of Michigan, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina, Ron DeSantis of Florida and Mark Meadows of North Carolina.^[22]

Mick Mulvaney told Ryan Lizza of the New Yorker “We had twenty names, and all of them were terrible,” Mulvaney said. “None of us liked the Freedom Caucus, either, but it was so generic and so universally awful that we had no reason to be against it.” In the same interview, Lizza reported that “one of the working titles for the group was theReasonable Nutjob Caucus.”^[23][24]

During the crisis over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in early 2015,the caucus offered four plans for resolution, but all were rejected by the Republican leadership. One of the caucus leaders, Raúl Labrador of Idaho, said the caucus will offer an alternative that the most conservative Republican members could support.^[25][needs ^update]

Following the election of Donald Trump, Mick Mulvaney said "Trump wants to turn Washington upside down — that was his first message and his winning message. We want the exact same thing. To the extent that he's got to convince Republicans to change Washington, we're there to help him ... and I think that makes us Donald Trump's best allies in the House."^[26]

Opposition to Speaker of the House John Boehner

The newly-formed group declared that a criterion for new members in the group would be opposition to John Boehner as Speaker of the House and willingness to vote against or thwart Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner on legislation that the group opposed.^[27]

The House Freedom Caucus was involved in the resignation of Boehner on September 25, 2015, and the ensuing leadership battle for the new speaker.^[28] Members of the caucus who had voted against Boehner for speaker felt unfairly punished, accusing him of cutting them off from positions in the Republican Study Committee and depriving them of key committee assignments.^[29][30] Boehner found it increasingly difficult to manage House Republicans with the fierce opposition of the Freedom Caucus, and he sparred with House Republican members in 2013 over their willingness to shut down the government in pursuit of goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act. These members later created and became members of the Freedom Caucus when it was created in 2015.^{[27][31][32][33]}

After Boehner resigned as speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the House majority leader, was initially the lead contender to succeed him, but the Freedom Caucus withheld its support.^[34]However, McCarthy withdrew from the race on October 8, 2015, after appearing to suggest that the Benghazi investigation‘s purpose had been to lower the approval ratings of Hillary Clinton.^[35][36] On the same day as McCarthy’s withdrawal, **Reid Ribble**resignedfrom the Freedom Caucus saying he had joined to promote certain policies and could not support the role that it was playing in the leadership race.^[37]

On October 20, 2015, Paul Ryan announced that his bid for the speaker of the United States House of Representatives was contingent on an official endorsement by the Freedom Caucus.^[38] While the group could not reach the 80% approval that was needed to give an official endorsement, on October 21, 2015, it announced that it had reached a supermajority support for Ryan.^[39] On October 29, 2015, Ryan succeeded John Boehner as the speaker of the House.^[40]

Backlash in 2016

The group faced backlash from the Republican Party establishment during the 2016 election cycle.^[41]One of its members, Congressman Tim Huelskamp, a Tea Party Republican representing Kansas’ First District, was defeated during a primary election on August 2, 2016, by Roger Marshall.^[42]

Rejection of American Health Care Act in 2017

On March 24, 2017, the American Health Care Act (AHCA), the House Republican bill to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, was withdrawn by Republican House speaker Paul Ryan because it lacked the votes to pass, due in large part to opposition from Freedom Caucus Republicans.^[43][44][45]

Two days later, President Donald Trump publicly criticized the Freedom Caucus and other right-wing groups, such as the Club for Growth and Heritage Action, that opposed the bill. Trump tweeted: “Democrats are smiling in D.C. that the Freedom Caucus, with the help of Club For Growth and Heritage, have saved Planned Parenthood & Obamacare!”^[46][47] On the same day, Congressman Ted Poe of Texas resigned from the Freedom Caucus.^[48] On March 30, 2017, Trump “declared war” on the Freedom Caucus, sending a tweet urging Republicans to “fight them” in the 2018 midterm elections “if they don’t get on the team” (i.e., support Trump's proposals).^[49] Vocal Freedom Caucus member Justin Amash responded by accusing Trump of “succumb[ing] to the D.C. Establishment.”^[50]

Trump has since developed a closer relationship with the caucus chair, Mark Meadows.^[51] In April 2018, Trump described four caucus members—Meadows, Jim Jordan, Ron DeSantis and Matt Gaetz—as “absolute warriors” for their defense of him during the course of the Special Counsel investigation.^[52]

Criticism from Boehner

On October 30, 2017, Vanity Fair published an interview with Republican former House speaker John Boehner, who said of the Freedom Caucus: "They can't tell you what they're for. They can tell you everything they're against. They're anarchists. They want total chaos. Tear it all down and start over. That's where their mindset is."^[53]

Impeachment proceedings against President Trump

In May 2019, the Freedom Caucus officially condemned one of its founding members, Justin Amash, after he called for the impeachment of President Trump.^[54] Amash announced in June 2019 that he had left the caucus, saying "I didn't want to be a further distraction for the group."^[55]

Members of the Freedom Caucus have taken an active role in the impeachment investigation into President Trump that was launched in September 2019. Members of the Caucus have called for the release of the full transcript of former U.S. special envoy to Ukraine Kurt Volker’s testimony to Congress.^[56]

Membership

[57] In the 115th Congress, the group had about 36 members.^[57] A number of members have identified themselves, or have been identified by others, as members of the Freedom Caucus; as of September 2019, those members include:

Andy Biggs of Arizona^[58]
Mo Brooks of Alabama^[59]
Ken Buck of Colorado^[60]
Ted Budd of North Carolina^[61]
Ben Cline of Virginia^[62]
Michael Cloud of Texas^[62]
Warren Davidson of Ohio^[63]
Scott DesJarlais of Tennessee^[64]
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina^[65]
Russ Fulcher of Idaho^[62]
Matt**Gaetz**of Florida^[66][67]
Louie Gohmert of Texas^[68]
Paul **Gosar** of Arizona^[69]
Mark E. Green of Tennessee^[62]
Morgan Griffith of Virginia^[10]
Andy Harris of Maryland^[70]
Jody**Hice**of Georgia^[71]
JimJordan of Ohio^[72]
Debbie Lesko of Arizona^[73]
MarkMeadows of North Carolina^[72][57]
Alex Mooney of West Virginia^[70]
Greg Murphy of North Carolina (won special election)^[74]
Ralph Norman of South Carolina^[75]
Gary Palmer of Alabama^[76]
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania^[70]
Bill Posey of Florida^[70]
Denver Riggleman of Virginia^[62]
Chip Roy of Texas^[62]
David **Schweikert**of Arizona^[60]
Randy Weber of Texas^[77]
Ron Wright of Texas ^[62]
Ted **Yoho**of Florida^[77]

Leadership

Term start	Term end	Chair
January 26, 2015	January 3, 2017	Jim Jordan
January 3, 2017	October 1, 2019	Mark Meadows
October 1, 2019	Present	Andy Biggs

Term start	Term end	Vice-Chair
January 3, 2017	Present	Jim Jordan

Former members

Justin Amash of Michigan (resigned from the caucus in 2019)^[55]
Brian Babin of Texas (resigned from the caucus in 2017)^[78]
Joe Barton of Texas (retired in 2018)^[68]
Rod Blum of Iowa (defeated in 2018 general election)^[70]
Dave Brat of Virginia (defeated in 2018 general election)^[79]
Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma (appointed in 2018 as Administrator of NASA)^[76]
Curt Clawson of Florida (retired in 2016)^[80]
Ron DeSantis of Florida^[72](successfully ran for governor of Florida in 2018)
John Fleming of Louisiana (defeated in 2016 US Senate primary election)^[81]
Scott Garrett of New Jersey (defeated in 2016 general election)^[72]
Tom Garrett Jr. of Virginia (retired in 2018)^[82]
Tim Huelskamp of Kansas (defeated in 2016 primary election)^[83]
Raúl Labrador of Idaho (retired in 2018; defeated in primary election for governor of Idaho)^[72]
Doug Lamborn of Colorado (resigned in 2016)^[84]
Barry Loudermilk of Georgia (declined to renew membership for the 115th Congress)^[71][85]
Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming (retired in 2016;^[60] the only identified female member at the time)
Tom McClintock of California (resigned from the caucus on September 16, 2015)^[76]
Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina (confirmed in 2017 as director of the Office of Management and Budget)^[72]
Steve Pearce of New Mexico (retired in 2018; ran for governor of New Mexico and lost)^[60]
Ted Poe of Texas (resigned from caucus March 26, 2017 after AHCA was withdrawn)^[86]
Reid Ribble of Wisconsin (resigned from the caucus on October 9, 2015)^[37]
Dana Rohrabacher of California (defeated in 2018 general election)^[87][88]
Keith Rothfus of Pennsylvania (resigned from the caucus in 2016, defeated in redistricted 2018 general election)^[89][90]
Matt Salmon of Arizona (retired in 2016)^[72]
Mark Sanford of South Carolina (defeated in 2018 primary election)^[70]
Marlin Stutzman of Indiana (ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate in 2016)^[70]

Reference

https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/the-decade-republicans-hijacked-our-democracy-via-the-gerrymander/

no lnx

The decade Republicans hijacked our democracy — via the gerrymander

Written by David Daley / Salon December 30, 2019

As this decade comes to a close, 59 million Americans live in a state where one or both chambers of the state legislature is controlled by the party that got fewer votes in the 2018 election.

In Wisconsin in 2018, voters elected a Democratic U.S. senator, defeated an incumbent Republican governor, picked Democrats for every statewide office, and favored Democratic candidates for the state assembly by more than 200,000 ballots. Republicans nevertheless controlled more than 63 percent of the seats.

We end the 2020s with voter purges in Ohio, Wisconsin and Georgia, with precinct closures weaponized to lower voter participation across the South, with Texas, Tennessee and Florida making it harder to register new voters. The ball drops on the 2010s with state legislatures in Florida, Michigan and Missouri willing to undo voting reforms approved by upwards of 60 percent of the people via initiative.

One of our final images of the U.S. House will be the floor debate over impeachment, with its dueling images of older, white men defending the president’s actions over Ukraine and younger members, largely women and people of color, insisting that no one, even a president, stand above the law.

White men make up a smaller slice of the American electorate with each election. Yet they maintain outsized power in Congress and state legislatures. A new decade dawns with a crisis of representation that threatens the integrity of representative democracy itself.

We’re in this mess, in many ways, because of gerrymandering. This was the decade that the gerrymander — perhaps the oldest political trick in the book — pushed American politics into a dangerous state of anti-majoritarianism, grounded in racial fear and identity politics, that may take at least another decade to overcome, assuming we ever do so.

It’s worth remembering how we got here. After all, the decade began with the likelihood that changing American demographics might push the nation in a very different direction.

As thousands celebrated America’s first black president in Chicago’s Grant Park on election night 2008, the smartest analysts on every network, left and right, watched Barack Obama defeat John McCain and wondered whether an increasingly diverse nation might render Republicans a minority party for decades.

Top Republican strategists had a different idea. The 2008 election might have been historic, they understood, but 2010 had the potential to be transformative. Every state legislative and congressional district in the nation would be redrawn after the 2010 census. State legislatures would draw most of the lines. If Obama and the Democrats suffered a difficult midterm election, as new presidents often do, Republicans could quickly change their fortunes, dominate redistricting, and draw themselves an enduring advantage, even in competitive states they’d lost in 2008, such as Wisconsin, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Michigan.

The GOP plan — known as REDMAP, or the Redistricting Majority Project — was headquartered at the Republican State Leadership Committee, led by former party chairman Ed Gillespie. It was announced on the op-ed page of the Wall Street Journal by no less than GOP mastermind Karl Rove. The RSLC’s key benefactors included Koch Industries, Walmart, Reynolds American and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. The RSLC identified just over 100 state legislative races in crucial states, and drowned Democratic incumbents in waves of sophisticated negative advertisements in the final weeks of the 2010 race. (It helped that cocky Democrats snoozed on the importance of redistricting and barely put up any fight.) And when it came time to remap these states in 2011, using the most exacting voter data and sophisticated mapping technology ever deployedon redistricting, the political operations of new House Speaker John Boehner, Paul Ryan and many other establishment figures would play key roles.

It worked. In 2012, the first election held under these lines, Democratic U.S. House candidates won 1.4 million more votes than Republicans nationwide. Republicans held the chambers nevertheless, decisively, 234-201. In targeted swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, Democratic candidates would earn tens of thousands more votes, but the Republican-drawn districts packed and cracked those votes so precisely that the GOP would win 13 of the 18 seats from Pennsylvania and nine of 14 from Michigan. Democratic state legislative candidates would routinely win more votes in these states as well; Republicans would hold both chambers in Michigan, Ohio, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin regardless.

So yes, it worked. But it also contained the seeds of the party’s unraveling, placed a frustrated and impossible-to-please base in charge, and set the stage for an outsider to sweep up the pieces four years later.

But first, something else would happen in 2012: Barack Obama defeated Mitt Romney, and shaken Republicans realized they’d lost the popular vote in five out of six presidential elections, GOP leaders commissioned a warts-and-all diagnosis of the party’s brand. It wasn’t pretty. One-time Republican voters now described the party as “scary,” “out of touch,” “narrow-minded,” even “stuffy old men.”

Its authors named the report the Growth and Opportunity Project but it soon became known by everyone as something catchier and more urgent: the Republican autopsy. Among the causes of death? Republicans had “lost their way with younger voters.” Many minorities “think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country.”

It recommended that the party modernize itself, learn how to persuade and appeal to a wider variety of people, champion policies that make life better for working Americans rather than the rich, then head to communities Republicans had tended to avoid and make their case. “We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian and gay Americans and demonstrate that we care about them, too,” the autopsy concluded.

When Donald Trump captured the GOP nomination in 2016, many Republicans bemoaned not following this advice from the autopsy and more, such as championing immigration reform and becoming genuinely welcoming and inclusive on social issues. But it was already too late. The autopsy itself had been dead on arrival, and long before Trump descended his gilded Manhattan escalator and joined the Republican race. It had already been smothered, unaware, by the very Republican establishment who commissioned the report.

REDMAP made it impossible.

The new districts drawn by Republicans made their districts older, whiter, and more conservative. These new districts — where the Republican primary was the only race that mattered — produced a different kind of congressman (and most of them were men), incentivized against compromise, insulated from the ballot box, interested in listening only to their base.

These members also didn’t much care for the Republican establishment in Washington. They would bring a much different tone and tenor to Congress. Boehner, now the House speaker, learned this right quick. In summer 2013, a first-term congressman from North Carolina’s 11th district wrote Boehner a letter, suggesting that the GOP look to defund Obamacare by threatening a government shutdown. Boehner knew it was folly. Democrats controlled the White House and the Senate. It was a strategy doomed to fail. Rove blasted it in the Wall Street Journal.

ButMark Meadows enlisted 79 other Republicans in this quest. His own district, previously a swing district that most recently produced a conservative Democrat, had been redrawn so that he captured it by more than 15 percentage points. It was 87 percent white.

In the New Yorker, Ryan Lizza and David Wasserman looked at the districts of the 80 signatories. They were, on average, 75 percent white and just 9 percent Latino, compared to an average district that’s 63 percent white and 17 percent Latino. In 2012, Obama won the national popular vote by 4 percentage points. In those districts, Romney won by an average of 23. The Republican members exceeded even that landslide margin: They won their seats by an average of 34 percentage points. As the nation changed, redistricting not only held back demographic change, but it turned back the clock and solidified conservative white power. As Lizza concluded, “these 80 members represent an America where the population is getting whiter, where there are few major cities, where Obama lost the last election in a landslide, and where the Republican Party is becoming more dominant and more popular. Meanwhile, in national politics, each of these trends is actually reversed.”

Boehner, given little choice, followed the “suicide caucus” over the cliff. Predictably, disaster ensued and he had to change course. And predictably, the “suicide caucus” saw no reason to compromise or change its own. This was just one of more than four dozen battles to repeal Obamacare in the House, none of which stood any greater likelihood of victory.Immigration reform, one of the only policy options the autopsy’s authors saw as crucial for the party’s future, stood no chance in this climate.

Neither did the GOP leadership. A year later,Meadowswould turn on Boehner, filing a parliamentary motion to “vacate the chair” that would ultimately lead to the speaker’s resignation.

The House had been set on a dangerous new course. REDMAP, like some Frankenstein’s monster, would not only devour Boehner, but the new members empowered by these toxic, technology-driven gerrymanders would accelerate all of the worst polarizing trends in our politics. The Freedom Caucus, legislators created and empowered by REDMAP, would run the House. Ryan, Boehner’s successor, would later step aside in frustration as well, proven ineffective despite GOP control of Congress and the White House. The autopsy wouldn’t be worth the paper it was printed on. The GOP establishment hoped that controlling redistricting would buy themselves time to set a new course. Instead, the party’s course, and our nation’s history, would beset by the new leaders that their gerrymandering rendered unbeatable and uncontrollable.

Did Boehner learn any lesson from his unholy creation? Well, earlier this month he and Ryan signed on as chairs of a Speakers Advisory Council generated to fundraise for the REDMAP creators’ 2020 redistricting strategy.

Here’s the thing: When you’re trying to ensure that the side with less support continues to hold power, when you’re trying to maintain control without talking to a changing nation, your tactics aren’t likely to end with redistricting. [MAX X DRIVES SYS OUT OF BALANCE --> UNINTENDED CONSEQ AND SYS FAIL?]

Indeed, efforts to make it harder for citizens to vote were among the very first actions by gerrymandered state legislatures, especially in Wisconsin and North Carolina, where a federal court found that those barriers were “surgically” crafted to target blacks. Gerrymandered legislatures can take such anti-democratic actions because the people’s representatives need not fear the judgement of the people. [no FEEDBACK] And after the U.S. Supreme Court [MOD] undid essential protections within the Voting Rights Act, in the 2013 case Shelby County v. Holder, states and other entities didn’t have to fear the courts, [DISABLE CHECKS AND BALANCE] either, when they wanted to change the rules around voting. Across much of the nation, but especially in the South, as well as in states with one-party control and newly gerrymandered legislatures, came aflood of voter ID bills, cutbacks in absentee and early voting, voter roll purges, precinct closures and more.

Gerrymandered legislatures felt free to ignore the will of the people. Other legislatures followed along. In Florida, for example, where 64 percent of voters approved a 2018 state constitutional amendment ending felony disenfranchisement, lawmakers added an additional burden instead — complete repayment of any fines and fees connected to the sentence or prison term — that many critics compared to a poll tax. Legislators also undermined a legal victory allowing campus sites to be used for early voting with a sneaky provision that requires something always at a premium on colleges: Easy parking.

Texas would make it a felony for anyone to cast an ineligible ballot, even by accident. Arizona looked to dial back early voting and expand voter ID requirements. Tennessee passed legislation that would make it put those who run voter registration drives in jeopardy of massive fines if they submitted too many incomplete applications. Indiana made it harder to sue in state court to extend voting hours, often necessary when machines malfunction or when lines are long.Legislatures in Missouri, Utah, Michigan and Idaho worked to unwind popular 2018 initiatives won by citizens demanding reforms politicians had refused to make.

And so we end this decade with the water in Flint still undrinkable, thanks to gerrymandering.

In 2011, Michigan’s GOP-controlled legislature dramatically expanded the state’s power to take over financially struggling municipalities and place them under the control of a state-appointed emergency manager. Angry voters toppled the law in a November 2012 ballot initiative, concluding that it gave the state too much power to usurp local control and run roughshod over elected officials. One month later, lawmakers ignored the public and reinstated the program.

Then, in 2014, the emergency manager appointed to run Flint changed the city’s water supply to the Flint River and decided against installing corrosion inhibitors to properly treat the water, saving an estimated $140 a day. It sparked a lead contamination crisis and an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that killed 12 people and sickened hundreds of children.

And so we end this decade with fetal heartbeat laws on the march in aggressively gerrymandered states like Ohio, Georgia and Alabama, that would enact abortion restrictions dramatically out of sync with the wishes of voters even in these red states.

And so we end this decade with a national consensus on gun controland putting an end to the horrifically numbing routine of mass shootings, but an anti-majoritarian and broken political system where large majorities are ever-stymied and unable, again and again, to translate the will of the people into action. The decade closes with consensus on climate change, but progress and agreements being rolled back.

We stand on the verge of the next redistricting cycle, which will begin in 2021, without the prospect of intervention from the federal courts, with the gerrymander wars headed south and the prospect of states using citizen population, rather than total population, to draw state legislative districts, all, again, with the goal of standing athwart demographic change and shouting “stop.”

These wars will be fought with Democrats, at last, fully awakened and focused on state legislatures. They’ll take place with dramatically more public awareness and media attention paid to the importance of structural voting issues that once made eyes glaze over. And they’ll be undertaken with solid majorities of Americans of all ideologies backing rules and reforms enshrine the best promises of our democracy.

But the damage that has done is severe and will be long-lasting. Forty years ago, when Raymond Donovan, the labor secretary under Ronald Reagan, was acquitted on fraud and larceny charges, he famously asked “Which office do I go to to get my reputation back.” We should all pose the same question about the way urgent issues went unaddressed during this bitter and polarized decade, stolen from us, in part, by the gerrymander.

It may require a generation to repair the damage to our civic fabric from this decade’s cynical and corrosive festival of partisan gerrymandering. It helped heightened and accelerated polarization, extremism and our dysfunctional politics. It’s incumbent on all of us to ensure it doesn’t get worse before it gets better. There may not be any battle in the next decade that’s more urgent.

David Daley, a former editor of Salon, is the author of the national bestseller “Ratf**ked: Why Your Vote Doesn’t Count” and the forthcoming “Unrigged: How Americans Fought Back, Slayed the Gerrymander and Reinvented Democracy.”

voter ID says tp 2010 wave set up disenfranchise by giving (states?) power to gerry, which they need b/c of demograhic erosion?

see rooney politico on impeach:

...

This could prove to be Trump’s salvation. Even among those Republicans not predisposed to defending him, there is the silhouette of an emerging consensus: That the president’s dealings with Ukraine were foolish, unbecoming and unfortunate—but not impeachable.

Even Sanford admits that if he were still a voting member, he wouldn’t be ready to support impeachment. “I think there’s a very weighty, complex judgment to be made here,” he says. “I object to this president on a variety of levels. But I would still say another shoe has to drop.” Sanford pauses. “Then again, this is a guy who said he could shoot somebody on 5th Avenue and get away with it, and he was pretty clairvoyant on that front. So, I don’t know what that shoe would have to look like.”

Mark Sanford, a former South Carolina congressman and governor, campaigns in Manchester, New Hampshire, in Sept. 2019. Sanford is running against Donald Trump for the 2020 Republican presidential nomination.

Amash, who voted for the House inquiry to proceed, is wrestling with that same question. “I think we’ve seen plenty of evidence that the president is abusing his power, abusing the office of the presidency,” he says. The independent congressman understands that his former GOP comrades disagree, or at least say they disagree, with him on that front. What he wonders is what, if anything, could change their minds; whether even a smoking cannon of misconduct linked directly to Trump could convince them of their responsibility to impeach.

Just as we sit discussing this mystery inside Amash’s congressional office, the nearby television flickers to life with a CNN breaking news bulletin: “White House admits to quid pro quo with Ukraine.” A short while earlier, Mulvaney—one of Amash’s closest friends during their time together on Capitol Hill—had taken to the White House press podium to declare, among other things, that Ukraine’s military funding had indeed been held up at Trump’s behest and that people should “get over it.”

Amash shakes his head. “I mean, I’ve known Mick for a long time, but I don’t really know what his life is like at this point, and what he’s thinking, and how much just being in that world warps your view of things,” he says. “The administration’s approach with a lot of things is to put out really bad information and then pretend like it’s not bad. It’s sort of a different way of covering up. It’s gaslighting—just put out the bad stuff and then tell everyone it’s not bad, and that you’re shocked that anyone would think it’s bad. ... Trump understands that. He’s figured out that he can say and do pretty much anything and people will cover for him.”

“The administration’s approach with a lot of things is to put out really bad information and then pretend like it’s not bad. It’s sort of a different way of covering up.”

—REP. JUSTIN AMASH

Both Sanford and Amash, once integral players inside the conservative House Freedom Caucus, say that if the roles were reversed—if Barack Obama were asking foreign nations to investigate Mitt and Tagg Romney—that Jim Jordan, the group’s founding chairman, would be leading the charge toward impeaching the Democratic president.

“Oh, no doubt,” Sanford laughs.

“100 percent,” Amash says.

With Sanford and Amash exiled, and Trump’s alliance with the House Freedom Caucus strong and symbiotic, it’s unclear whether even a single member of the organization—one founded on the order of principles over party—will consider a vote for impeachment. Jordan and Mark Meadows, his wingman and Trump’s soothsayer on the right, have so thoroughly transformed the identity of the group from feverishly independent to ferociously partisan that it’s difficult to imagine any of their lieutenants stepping outside of what’s become a Trump-topped chain of command.

There is, however, one conservative who continues to be monitored closely: Chip Roy.

A former federal prosecutor who made a name for himself in Washington as Ted Cruz’s original Senate chief of staff, Roy is a true believer who was sharply critical of Trump throughout 2016. When Roy decided to run for Congress in 2018, in fact, he was reminded to scrub his social media of attacks on the president. With so many of his Freedom Caucus colleagues springing to the president’s defense in recent months, Roy’s silence has been a subject of growing concern. Although the freshman congressman hasn’t indicated that he’s prepared to impeach Trump, he hasn’t soothed anxieties by ruling it out, either.

Freshman Republican Rep. Chip Roy speaks at a press conference outside the Capitol.

Freshman Republican Rep. Chip Roy speaks at a press conference outside the Capitol. | Tasos Katopodis | Getty Images

In an interview, Roy tells me he has yet to see evidence supporting a case for Trump’s impeachment. That said, he is clearly uncomfortable with the reflexive attempts by his colleague to insulate Trump at every turn, often resulting in sloppy and self-contradicting arguments.

“I have not associated myself with any of the defenses of my colleagues on this issue, because I’m going to make my own assessment and frame it however the facts present themselves,” he says. “I’ve got my own views on this, and I don’t necessarily believe the arguments I’ve heard to date have been the best arguments, because people are just firing on the fly without thinking it through.”

Roy acknowledges his reluctance to speak on the matter. He explains that he has been marking up hundreds of pages of documents and building a prosecutor’s case file from which to draw his ultimate conclusions. Unlike some of his colleagues, Roy says, he sees “a line” that needs to be enforced as a matter of precedent. It’s just that Trump, from everything he’s gathered thus far, has not crossed it.

The president’s allies have long believed his greatest threat from within the Republican Party comes from the middle; that given the cultish devotion he enjoys on the right, a moderate with lukewarm constituents could get away with defying him before a conservative with MAGA-clad constituents could. This thinking had led Trump and his team to keep a close eye on certain individuals, such as Adam Kinzinger and John Shimkus and Fred Upton, who fit the description of the centrist, traditional, Bush-friendly Republican who have been known to voice their displeasure with the president. And indeed, both Kinzinger and Shimkus leaped off the radar in recent weeks due to their broadsides against Trump. But their invective had more to do with abandoning the Kurds than pressuring the Ukrainians...

Recent Republican-pushed federal shutdowns gained nothing — but cost taxpayers at least $4 billion

Daily Kos

A new Senate report pegs the cost of the last three government shutdowns, from the bizarre 2013 Republican shutdown demanding the end of “Obamacare” to the two 2018-2019 Trump-led shutdowns.

THIS NEEDS SOME ANALYSIS

triggered by pharma lies, Mick m poster boy for _?

House Freedom Caucus votes to condemn one of its founding members over Trump impeachment comments

https://www.alternet.org/2019/04/siding-with-big-pharma-republicans-warn-ceos-not-to-cooperate-with-democrats-drug-price-probe

As Democrats on the House Oversight Committee attempt to investigate soaring drug prices in the U.S., Republicans are warning the CEOs of some of America’s largest pharmaceutical companies against cooperating with the probe.

Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), leaders of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, sent letters (pdf) to a dozen drug company CEOs “warning that information they provide to the committee could be leaked to the public by Democratic chair Elijah Cummings in an effort to tank their stock prices,” Buzzfeed reported Monday.

Cummings, a Democrat from Maryland, launched his investigation in January with a request for “information and communications on price increases, investments in research and development, and corporate strategies to preserve market share and pricing power” from pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and others.

In their letters to the same pharmaceutical companies, Jordan and Meadows suggested that Cummings is attempting to obtain information that “would likely harm the competitiveness of your company if disclosed publicly.”

“While we cannot speculate about Chairman Cummings’s motives, we believe the committee should not pursue an investigation to ‘impact… stock prices with regard to drugs’—especially when there is bipartisan interest in real oversight of rising prescription drug prices,” the Republicans wrote in their letters, dated April 5.

As Buzzfeed notes, Jordan and Meadows’ claims rest on an out-of-context quote from Cummings:

The [Republicans’] letter quotes Cummings as saying of his drug team: “If you follow the headlines, we have already seen the impact they have had… on stock prices with regard to drugs. I mean, it has been astronomical.” The letter omits the rest of the sentence: “saving the taxpayers money.”

In the edited quote, Cummings seems to be bragging about an “astronomical” impact on drug company stocks. In the context of his statements before and after, he seems to be saying the “astronomical” impact is on taxpayer savings, which justify giving his committee more resources. A minute later he says: “Whatever you all give us, we will give it back in savings by rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.”

In a statement to Buzzfeed, Cummings said Jordan—the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee—”is on the absolute wrong side here.”

“He would rather protect drug company ‘stock prices’ than the interests of the American people,” Cummings added.

Economist and University of California, Berkeley professor Robert Reich expressed agreement with Cummings, tweeting of the two Republicans, “Once again, they’re siding with Big Pharma at the expense of the American people.”

mick takes the white house

if there’s one thing that really sums up just how profoundly messed up the Trump White House is, top to bottom, it’s this: the one person capable of making Trump and Co. happy in the role of chief of staff is former Freedom Caucus maniac Mick Mulvaney. The once—and current—Office of Management and Budget Director, who also moonlighted as the head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for over a year, has been filling in as top deputy for Trump since John Kelly left last year, reportedly no longer even trying to talk with Trump. But Mulvaney is doing so great at the job, they’re making it permanent.

That’s right, the Freedom Caucus lives on, and this time it’s taking over the White House. Apparently, Mulvaney is working out so well because he just lets Trump do whatever the hell he wants, and is also nice to first daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner, the guy running around on the world stage with a security clearance he should not have. Mulvaney lets them do whatever they want, as well, so they don’t go running to Daddy complaining about the nanny being mean. This all is absolutely real, sources tell Politico. He’s succeeding because he lets them be awful. “He has stayed out of a lot of people’s way,” a senior administration official told reporter Nancy Cook. “No one is saying he is killing it but staying out of people’s way has helped.”

Here’s something to help you sleep at night: “Mulvaney has also quietly installed roughly eight loyal aides within the West Wing.” It’s a Freedom Caucus coup, brought about by the fact that literally no one else Trump tried to talk into taking the chief job was willing to do it. He got bored with the hunt for Kelly’s replacement after multiple, public rejections by people like Rep. Mark Meadows, the North Carolina maniac, Nick Ayers, and Chris Christie, so it looks like Mulvaney is ending up on top. Trump has apparently not made it official yet, and could change his mind, but he’s done nothing else in the interest of the country so it doesn’t seem likely he’ll want to chance getting someone else who might try to rein in his impulses again.

Back to that coup—he’s installed his people in the “chief of staff’s office, communications shop and Domestic Policy Council, which crafts policy on issues like health care, drug prices, welfare, education and transportation.” That’s comforting, huh? While Trump’s out there being as Trumpy as he wants to be, Mulvaney and team will be behind the scenes trying to dismantle our society. Good times.

https://www.alternet.org/trumps-gop-house-henchmen-lay-groundwork-hold-top-doj-official-overseeing-russia-probe-contempt

Ryan caved to Donald Trump's Russia hatchet squad and now the GOP caucus is closer than ever to delivering Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein an ultimatum: hand over every sensitive document they want on the Russia probe or be held in contempt and possibly impeached. Bloomberg writes:

Passing the resolution would escalate pressure on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to hand over material, including some related to the origins of the investigation into whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign colluded with Russian meddling in the 2016 election. The measure would give Rosenstein and other officials until July 6 to comply.

The resolution itselfdoesn't explicitly reference impeachment or even contempt and it's effectively unenforceable, but the House henchmen have been hanging that threat over Rosenstein's head for months. GOP Reps. Mark Meadows and Jim Jordan, so-called Freedom Caucus staples, now say the resolution is coming to the House floor on Thursday, contingent on the Rules Committee giving it final approval Wednesday afternoon.

full House vote would supercharge a battle that has primarily been waged by a handful of GOP zealots into potentially having the imprimatur of the entire Republican caucus. The showdown comes as both Rosenstein and FBI director Christopher Wray prepare to testify before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday morning about the agency's Inspector General report on the Clinton email investigation.

Rosenstein does not appear to be without some recourse. He has already threatened to request that the House conduct an internal investigation of the House Intelligence Committee staff. Though it's unclear where that stands, doing so would give him the ability to subpoena the internal communications of the staff.

...

9/17

ust to make the whole situation really crazy, our old friend Steve Bannon has apparently taken on the role of chief strategist for the extremist faction of the GOP. Jonathan Swan at Axios reported that Bannon recently met with Rep. Mark Meadows, R-N.C., the head of the House Freedom Caucus, which has about 40 hardcore right-wing members ready to rumble.Swan writes that they plan to fight the leadership’s decision to attach hurricane relief to the debt ceiling increase. The only good news is that unctuous Sen. Ted Cruz won’t be leading the opposition to relief funds this time around, since his constituents in Texas are the ones who need it. Swan quotes a source saying this:

This is bigger than Breitbart or the Freedom Caucus . . . The topics discussed included conservative alternatives to everything the anti-Trump Republican leadership has planned on every major policy matter facing the United States of America in September. Including Paul Ryan’s and Mitch McConnell’s demonstrated failure to govern, and how to effectively implement the Trump agenda moving forward.

A source told Hallie Jackson and Kristen Welker of MSNBC that “they focused on the idea that the GOP should brace for a ‘bloody September,’ as the president’s far-right base prepares to dig in on key issues from DACA to the debt ceiling.” This may well include Bannon’s desire to settle scores with his enemies, like White House economic adviser Gary Cohn, but it’s also likely to result in some twisted legislative scenarios in which Republicans will be battling each other simply to keep the country from defaulting on its debts or the government from shutting down.

killed trump ryan aca repeal b/c not draconian enough

domhoff london papr;

After examining the Freedom Caucus and the sources of funding for its representatives more closely, our findings suggested that this group truly does play a significant role in promoting anti-environmental policies. This clearly supports Domhoff’s assertion that the corporate class turns economic power into political power to influence public policy in a way that allows them to be more profitable. With so much of their funding stemming from polluting, anti-environmental sectors, it is easy to see where the loyalties of the Freedom Caucus representatives lie. To make matters worse, many of these representatives serve on committees that have the ability to greatly influence environmental policy. This tendency of Freedom Caucus representatives to support anti-environmental regulation is further demonstrated through the overwhelmingly low percentages of LVC votes by each member. Despite the relatively small size of this group, it is clear that with the help of conservative funding, their influence on policy is disproportionate. It is essential for us to understand groups like the Freedom Caucus and the ways in which corporate influence can shape public policy. This understanding will enable us to better protect civil society and the world that we live in.

wapo 1/17

This year’s agenda from House and Senate Republicans has clarity that was often lacking from Trump’s own campaign. Senate Republicans favor using a procedure known as “budget reconciliation,” in which measures can be passed with a simple 51-vote majority rather than a filibuster-proof 60 votes, to tackle the ACA and to undo much of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial reform.

As part of undoing the financial overhaul law, some GOP leaders have begun planning strategies for how to effectively kill the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, whether by giving Congress control over its budget or finding cause to replace its director, Richard Cordray, with a weaker board.

“I’d like to repeal the whole thing, period,” Senate Banking Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby said of Dodd-Frank in a December interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The reconciliation process is also likely to be used to pass tax changes, which both Trump and congressional Republicans want to use to lower rates and end the estate tax.

Republicans also are examining ways to undo many of the regulations and other orders enacted by Obama and his administration, including ones issued in the weeks since Trump’s victory and designed to solidify the Democratic president’s environmental legacy.

GOP leaders have cited the 21-year old Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to cast simple majority votes of disapproval for regulations, as a way to block anything the administration has ordered since June 2016.

Since its passage, the CRA has been used only once. But in December, the conservative House Freedom Caucus began compiling a list of more than 200 regulations it views as vulnerable to a disapproval vote. They include “burdensome” school lunch standards, tobacco regulations, laws that set higher wages for contractors and elements of the Paris climate-change agreement.

“Talking to some individuals with the Trump transition team, they are taking this extremely serious[ly],” Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), chairman of the Freedom Caucus, told the Heritage Foundation last month.

Republicans intend to supplement the CRA by enacting a law that would subject any regulation with an economic impact greater than $100 million to a vote of Congress, a change that would have prevented nearly every climate or employment rule change of the Obama years. The measure, called the Regulations From the Executive in Need of Scrutiny Act, or Reins, is a conservative priority that passed the Republican House in 2011, 2013 and 2015 with backing from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Republican aides now hope for a vote on Reins in the coming days so it can be sent for Trump’s signature immediately after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

Some Republican lawmakers also want legislation that would stop courts from deferring to federal agencies’ interpretations of statutes — a practice known as “Chevron deference,” after the 1984 Supreme Court case that went against the energy company — and have them instead defer to Congress.

The conservative House Freedom Caucus is considering hiring a former Tom DeLay aide who was a figure in a 2005 Washington lobbying corruption scandal, Politico reports.

Ed Buckham, DeLay's former chief of staff, interviewed to be the group's executive director — and is a front-runner for the spot, Politico reports, citing unnamed sources.

A spokesman for the chairman of the Freedom Caucus, Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, said interviews were underway for the position but declined to provide specifics.

The group's former executive director Steve Chartan left to work as legislative director to Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, Politico reports.

"We're very close,"DeLay tells Politicoabout his relationship with Buckham. "To be honest with you, it would be the smartest thing the Freedom Caucus could do. He's saved my career many times."

Buckham's son Matt is the communications director for the Freedom Caucus, Politico reports.

Buckham's former lobbying firm, Alexander Strategies Group, represented powerful corporations and trade associations that wanted access to DeLay and other top House Republicans, Politico reports.

The firm folded in the wake of a Justice Department investigation of Jack Abramoff, a confidant of DeLay and Buckram who spent more than three-and-a-half years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a variety of federal charges, including fraud, conspiracy to bribe public officials and tax evasion.

Abramoff said he and Buckham "were very close," but that he hadn't spoken to him in years, Politico reports.

The Freedom Caucus, also known as the House Freedom Caucus, is a congressional caucus consisting of conservative Republican members of the United States House of Representatives.^[6] It was formed by a group of Congressmen as a "smaller, more cohesive, more agile and more active" group of conservatives.^[7]

Many members are also part of the conservative House group the Republican Study Committee.^[7][8] The caucus is sympathetic to the Tea Party movement.^[9] According to its mission statement, “The House Freedom Caucus gives a voice to countless Americans who feel that Washington does not represent them. We support open, accountable and limited government, the Constitution and the rule of law, and policies that promote the liberty, safety and prosperity of all Americans.”^[10]

History

The origins of the Caucus lie at the mid-January Republican congression retreat in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Raúl Labrador and eight other representatives met separately from the main group to plan their own agenda. The group debated over a name for their new caucus, eventually settling on the "Freedom Caucus" because, according to founding member Mick Mulvaney, "it was so generic and universally awful that we had no reason to be against it." The group started with nine initial members in Hershey, who set as a criteria for new members that they had to be willing to vote against Speaker of the United States House of Representatives John Boehner on legislation that the group opposed.^[11]

During the crisis over the funding of the Department of Homeland Security in early 2015, the Caucus offered four plans for resolution, but all were rejected by the Republican leadership. Politico reported that one of the caucus leaders, Labrador of Idaho, said the Caucus will offer an alternative that the most conservative Republican members could support.^[12][dated ^info]

The Caucus was involved in the resignation of Boehner on September 25, 2015, and the ensuing leadership battle for the new Speaker.^[13] Members of the Caucus who had voted against Boehner for Speaker felt unfairly punished, accusing him of cutting them off from positions in the Republican Study Committee and depriving them of key committee assignments. Boehner found it increasingly difficult to manage House Republicans with the fierce opposition of the Freedom Caucus, and he sparred with them over their willingness to shut down the government in order to accomplish goals such as repealing the Affordable Care Act.^[11]

Initially, Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader, was the lead contender, but the Freedom Caucus withheld its support.^[14] However, McCarthy withdrew from the race on September 28, 2015.^[15] On the same day as McCarthy's withdrawal, Reid Ribble resigned from the Freedom Caucus saying he had joined to promote certain policies and could not support the role that it was playing in the leadership race.^[16]

On October 20, 2015, Paul Ryan announced that his bid for the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives was contingent on an official endorsement by the Freedom Caucus.^[17] While the group could not reach the 80% approval that was needed to give an official endorsement, on October 21, 2015, it announced that it had reached a supermajority support for Ryan.^[18] On October 29, 2015, Ryan succeeded John Boehner as the Speaker of the House.

On November 17, 2015, Jim Jordan was re-elected as Chairman of the caucus.^[19]

Membership

Congressional District map for Freedom Caucus membership of the 114th Congress. Former members in light color.

Members of the House Freedom Caucus as of October 2015 include:

Jim Jordan of Ohio, Chair^[20]
Justin Amash of Michigan^[20]
Brian Babin of Texas^[21]
Rod Blum of Iowa^[21]
Dave Brat of Virginia^[22]
Jim Bridenstine of Oklahoma^[23]
Mo Brooks of Alabama^[24][25]
Ken Buck of Colorado^[26]
Curt Clawson of Florida^[27]
Ron DeSantis of Florida^[20]
Scott Desjarlais of Tennessee^[28]
Jeff Duncan of South Carolina^[29]
John Fleming of Louisiana^[20]
Trent Franks of Arizona^[26]
Scott Garrett of New Jersey^[20]
Louie Gohmert of Texas^[30]
Paul Gosar of Arizona^[31]
Morgan Griffith of Virginia^[3]
Andy Harris of Maryland^[21]
Jody Hice of Georgia^[32]
Tim Huelskamp of Kansas^[33]
Walter B. Jones, Jr. of North Carolina^[34]
Steve King of Iowa^[35]
Raúl Labrador of Idaho^[20]
Barry Loudermilk of Georgia^[32]
Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming^[26]
Mark Meadows of North Carolina^[20]
Alex Mooney of West Virginia^[21]
Mick Mulvaney of South Carolina^[20]
Gary Palmer of Alabama^[23]
Steve Pearce of New Mexico^[26]
Scott Perry of Pennsylvania^[21]
Ted Poe of Texas^[21]
Bill Posey of Florida^[21]
Keith Rothfus of Pennsylvania^[21]
Matt Salmon of Arizona^[20]
Mark Sanford of South Carolina^[21]
David Schweikert of Arizona^[26]
Marlin Stutzman of Indiana^[21]
Randy Weber of Texas^[36]
Ted Yoho of Florida^[36]

Former members

Tom McClintock of California^[23] – Resigned from the caucus on September 16, 2015
Reid Ribble of Wisconsin^[16] – Resigned from the caucus on October 9, 2015

References

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/house-freedom-caucus-paul-ryan_56281b41e4b0bce34703ee96
Sherman, Jake; French, Lauren (March 6, 2015). "Rebels with a cause". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Newhauser, Daniel (June 24, 2015). "Boehner-vs.-Freedom-Caucus Battle Escalates". National Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Sullivan, Sean (March 4, 2015). "Insurgent bloc of House conservatives proving to be a thorn in Boehner’s side". Washington Post. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
"House Freedom Caucus Looks to Bend Leadership to Its Will". Newsmax. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
Taylor, Tyler (January 28, 2015). "House Freedom Caucus Delays Immigration Bill". Headlines and Global News. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Eaton, Sabrina (February 11, 2015). "It's official: Rep. Jim Jordan now chairs the House Freedom Caucus". Cleveland. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Graf, Scott (January 28, 2015). "Idaho's Rep. Labrador Joins Other Tea Party Conservatives To Form 'Freedom Caucus:{':(style="padding-right:0.2em"):}:". Boise State Public Radio. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Ferrechio, Susan (January 26, 2015). "Conservative lawmakers form House Freedom Caucus". Washington Examiner. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Miller, Darin (January 26, 2015). "House Republicans form House Freedom Caucus". *Congressman Jim Jordan at http://jordan.house.gov/*. Retrieved July 22, 2015. External link in |website= (help)
Lizza, Ryan. "A House Divided". The New Yorker. Retrieved December 9, 2015.
French, Lauren (March 3, 2015). "Conservatives offer John Boehner another DHS deal". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Steinhauer, Jennifer (September 25, 2015). "John Boehner, House Speaker, Will Resign From Congress". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
"Kevin McCarthy Announces Run for Speaker of the House". The Atlantic. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
Costa, Mike DeBonis, Robert; Helderman, Rosalind S. (October 8, 2015). "House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy drops out of race for House speaker". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
"Rep. Ribble leaves Freedom Caucus over moves in leadership race". POLITICO. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
David M. Herszenhorn (October 21, 2015), "Freedom Caucus Is Key to Paul Ryan House Speaker Decision", The New York Times
DeBonis, Mike; Costa, Robert (October 21, 2015). "‘Supermajority’ of House Freedom Caucus to back Paul Ryan’s speaker bid". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved October 23, 2015.
"House Freedom Caucus Re-Elects Jim Jordan As Chairman". The Daily Caller. November 17, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
French, Lauren (January 26, 2015). "9 Republicans launch House Freedom Caucus". Politico. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
"House Freedom Caucus Forms 'Fight Club' in House". 218. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
DaveBratVA7th (March 13, 2015). "Proud to be part of House Freedom Caucus" (Tweet).
Fuller, Matt (September 16, 2015). "House Freedom Caucus Loses Member Over Planned Parenthood". CNN. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
May, Caroline (January 27, 2015). "House GOP To Regroup On Border Bill". Breitbart. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Wong, Scott; Shabad, Rebecca; Marcos, Cristina (February 26, 2015). "House will vote Friday to prevent Homeland Security shutdown". The Hill. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Wong, Scott; Marcos, Cristina (June 27, 2015). "The dozen rebels targeted by GOP leaders". The Hill. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Newhauser, Daniel; Mimms, Sarah; Roubein, Rachel (February 26, 2015). "Boehner Has a Plan to Avoid a DHS Shutdown—But It Might Not Pass". National Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Broden, Scott (April 22, 2015). "DesJarlais raises $144,677 for 2016 campaign". The Daily News Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Palmer, Anna; French, Lauren (February 5, 2015). "Ron DeSantis, Jeff Duncan quit House whip team". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
"Two Texas Republicans holdouts vote against Paul Ryan for speaker". The Dallas Morning News. October 29, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
Strong, Jonathon (January 27, 2015). "Secretive ‘Freedom Caucus’ Claims Scalp On Border Bill Delay". Breitbart. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Darnell, Tim (March 19, 2015). "Can the House Freedom Caucus save the GOP?". Peach Pundit. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
Tillison, Tom (March 5, 2015). "Disgusted House Republican says Boehner has lost control". Bizpac Review. Retrieved July 22, 2015.
"The House conservatives who want to rule the world". CNN. September 30, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2016.
https://twitter.com/chrisvillani44/status/659735610119311361

Drew DeSilver (October 20, 2015), *What is the House Freedom Caucus, and who’s in it?*, Pew Research Center

freedom cocks bak

Sewers to swamps

Fireside chats

Perry's Democratic hall pass

'Backroom deals'

'Not a weakened speaker'

History

Opposition to Speaker of the House John Boehner

Backlash in 2016

Rejection of American Health Care Act in 2017

Criticism from Boehner

Impeachment proceedings against President Trump

Membership

Leadership

Former members

See also

Further reading

Reference

Recent Republican-pushed federal shutdowns gained nothing — but cost taxpayers at least $4 billion

Contents

History

Membership

Former members

See also

References

Further reading